UCSB   LIBRARY 


The  HuraT  Science  Series 

EDITED  BY  L.  H.  BAILET 


THE    PRINCIPLES    OF    FRUIT-GROWING 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF 
FRUIT-GROWING 


BT 

L.    H.    BAILEY 


FIFTH    EDITION 


THE   MACMILLAX   COMPANY 

LONDON:    MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 

1902 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1897 
By   L.    H.    BAILEY 

Set  up  and  electrotyped  June,  1897 

Reprinted  July,  1898;  July,  1900;  July,  1901 

and  June,  1902 


fBount  fi-Hrasant  }5>rros 

J.  Horace  McFarland  Company 
Harrisburg,  Pa. 


PREFACE   TO  THE   SECOND 
EDITION. 

IT  is  nearly  a  year  since  I  left  this  work  with 
the  printer.  The  first  copy  of  the  book  which  I 
saw  was  procured  in  a  foreign  land;  and  now  that  a 
second  edition  is  called  for,  I  find  myself  again  in 
fields  and  orchards  of  another  country.  These  per- 
sonal remarks  are  not  of  themselves  worth  making 
here;  but  they  shall  be  my  excuse  for  writing  a  few 
contrasts  of  American  and  European  fruit-growing. 

Classified  in  respect  to  the  objects  in  view,  there 
are  two  kinds  of  fruit-growing,— that  which  desires 
the  product  primarily  for  home  use,  and  that  which 
desires  it  primarily  for  market.  Of  market  or  com- 
mercial fruit-growing,  there  are  again  two  types,— 
that  which  aims  at  a  special  or  personal  market,  and 
that  which  aims  at  the  general  or  open  market.  The 
ideals  in  these  two  types  of  fruit-growing  are  very 
unlike,  and  the  methods  and  the  varieties  which  suc- 
ceed for  the  one  may  not  succeed  for  the  other.  The 
man  who  grows  fruits  for  the  special  market,  has 
a  definite  problem.  The  product  is  desired  for  its 
intrinsic  qualities;  and  special  products  demand  special 
prices.  The  man  who  grows  fruit  for  the  world's 
market,  has  no  personal  customer.  The  product  is 
(v) 


vi  Preface. 

desired  for  its  extrinsic  or  market  qualities;  and  the 
world's  products  bring  the  world's  prices.  The 
special -market  fruit-grower  generally  works  on  a 
small  base.  The  world's -market  fruit-grower  works 
on  a  large  base ;  or  he  sells  to  another  who,  by  com- 
bining similar  products  of  many  persons,  is  able  to 
command  the  attention  of  the  market. 

Now,  it  is  the  large,  base  upon  which  American 
fruit-growing  is  established  which  enables  it  to  enter 
European  markets.  In  America  are  thousands  of  acres 
of  one  variety,  and  the  conditions  under  which  the 
fruits  are  grown  are  so  similar  as  to  produce  uni- 
formity in  the  product.  We  speak  one  language,  and, 
although  we  are  two  nations,  we  live  in  practically 
the  same  political  environment.  We  go  to  Europe, 
and  to  our  own  great  markets,  with  wholesale  quan- 
tities. 

In  Europe,  on  the  contrary,  nearly  every  fruit- 
growing center  is  unique.  The  industry  is  the  out- 
come of  years,  may  be  of  centuries,  of  local  effort 
and  tradition.  There  is  no  general  uniformity  of 
methods  and  varieties.  Community  of  interests  on  a 
large  base  is  impossible.  There  are  insurmountable 
difficulties  of  physiography,  of  races,  languages  and 
political  systems.  In  the  staple  products,  the  Euro- 
pean grower  may  not  be  able  to  compete  with  Ameri- 
cans in  his  own  markets,  so  long  as  those  markets 
remain  naturally  open. 

The  American  fruit-grower  quickly  assimilates  new 
methods.  He  is  unfettered  by  tradition;  and  how 
much  this  means  only  those  can  understand  who  know 


Preface.  vii 

the  European  customs  and  ideals.  He  is  bold  and 
confident.  He  easily  buys  and  sells  land.  He  con- 
trols his  own  efforts  and  destinies.  He  has  more  help 
from  teachers  and  experiment  stations  than  the  Euro- 
pean has.  A  single  instance  will  illustrate  all  this. 
Spraying  for  fungous  diseases  is  a  European  develop- 
ment, whereas  large -area  spraying  for  insects  is  an 
American  development.  The  American  has  assimi- 
lated the  spraying  for  plant  diseases  and  has  made 
improvements  in  the  machinery,  while  he  has  at  the 
same  time  made  equal  progress  in  fighting  insects; 
but  the  European  has  not  assimilated  the  American 
methods  of  handling  insects,  and  spraying  for  plant 
diseases  is  probably  less  generally  understood  than  in 
America. 

In  many  parts  of  Europe,  the  farmer  is  a  tenant, 
and  he  therefore  has  little  interest  in  planting  trees. 
But  even  if  he  owns  land,  the  area  is  usually  small, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there  are  many  very 
large  individual  plantations.  There  are  few  great  geo- 
graphical regions  which  are  adapted  to  fruit-growing, 
or  which,  if  they  are  adapted,  can  be  utilized  for  that 
purpose.  The  environments  of  the  Old  World  farmer 
are  relatively  inflexible.  The  result  is  that  his  methods 
tend  to  become  stereotyped  and  rigid.  He  lacks  the 
inspiration  which  comes  of  conditions  which  are  easily 
recast  and  modified.  His  small  areas  must  be  so 
crowded  with  many  kinds  of  plants  that  machine- 
work  is  impossible.  There  are  few  orchards  in  Europe, 
as  that  word  is  understood  in  America,  meaning  an 
area  devoted  exclusively  to  tree  fruits  set  at  regular 


viii  Preface. 

distances  and  cultivated  systematically  with  labor- 
saving  machinery. 

For  these  and  other  reasons,  as  well  as  for  the 
fact  that  our  fruits  and  their  manufactured  products 
are  attractive  and  of  good  quality,  I  believe  that  the 
American  fruit-grower  will  find  an  increasing  market 
in  Europe.  But  the  greater  the  quantity  sent  abroad, 
the  more  discriminating  will  that  market  become;  and 
it  must  be  true  that  the  brands  and  the  varieties  of 
inferior  quality  tend  to  supply  the  inferior  markets. 

But  if  I  believe  that  American  fruit-growing  is  in 
advance  of  the  European  in  its  general  commercial 
aspects,  I  am  equally  convinced  that  the  European  is 
in  advance  in  growing  for  special  and  personal  uses. 
The  narrowness  of  the  enterprises,  the  competition  in 
restricted  areas,  the  respect  for  traditional  methods  and 
varieties,  conserve  the  very  elements  which  appeal 
to  the  discriminating  consumer,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  they  develop  great  skill  in  the  fruit-grower. 
The  care  which  is  bestowed  on  individual  plants,  the 
niceties  of  exposure  and  of  training,  the  patient  hand- 
work, may  almost  be  said  to  develop  personal  traits 
in  the  fruits  themselves.  Such  fruits  may  not  find  a 
place  in  the  open  market,  but  for  that  very  reason 
they  may  have  a  higher  commercial  value. 

At  the  head  of  a  little  valley,  closely  shut  in  by 
the  Alps,  is  a  famous  apple  orchard.  The  trees  are 
trained  upright  on  the  opposite  sides  of  a  double  espa- 
lier or  trellis,  the  sides  of  which  are  less  than  two  feet 
apart.  In  each  of  these  rows,  the  trees  are  two  to 
four  feet  asunder.  These  trellises  are  perhaps  ten  feet 


Preface.  ix 

the  one  from  the  other,  and  between  each  two  is  a 
row  of  apples  on  cordons  or  single  horizontal  wires; 
and  in  the  spaces  potatoes  or  other  annual  crops  are 
often  planted.  Even  the  wires  that  brace  the  end 
posts  of  the  trellises  have  apple  trees  trained  on 
them  like  strands  of  vines.  Each  tree  is  trained  to 
a  definite  number  of  branches  or  arms,  and  even  the 
fruit -spurs  are  carefully  determined.  This  plantation 
is  the  property  of  a  company  whose  business  it  is  to 
care  for  the  land  and  the  trees,  and  to  find  a  mar- 
ket for  the  fruit.  It  is  expensive  to  grow  apples 
in  this  way ;  but  the  best  Calvilles  often  bring  a 
gulden  (about  forty -one  cents)  apiece. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  lesson  which  the 
American  fruit-grower  has  yet  to  learn  is  the  fact 
that  there  are  two  types  of  effort  in  commercial  fruit- 
growing, and  that  there  may  be  pecuniary  reward  in 
fruits  which  are  unknown  in  the  market.  Failure  to 
distinguish  these  two  categories  is  the  result  of  a  con- 
fusion of  ideas.  One  grows  fruit  either  for  a  special 
and  personal  market,  in  which  ease  he  looks  for  his 
own  customer  and  is  independent  of  general  trade;  or 
he  grows  what  the  market  demands,  and  allows  the 
machinery  of  trade  to  handle  the  product.  In  the 
latter  effort,  the  American  fruit-grower  is  preeminent; 
but  in  the  former  he  has  made  little  more  than  a 
beginning. 

L.  H.  BAILEY. 

BOZEN,  TYROL,  May  20,  1898. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    I. 

PAGES 
INTRODUCTORY  DISCUSSION 1-36 

INVENTORY  OP  FRUITS.  Orchard  culture  or  tree-fruit  cul- 
ture— Pomaceous  fruits  — Drupaceous  or  stone  fruits— Citrous 
fruits— Moraceous  fruits— Anonaceous  fruits— Myrtaceous 
fruits— Sapotaceous  fruits— Anacardiaceous  fruits— Eben- 
aceous  fruits  — Leguminous  fruits— Nut-fruits— Palmaceous 
fruits  — Miscellaneous  tree-fruits.—  Vine-fruit  culture—  Viti- 
culture— Passifloraceous  fruits.  —  Small-fruit  culture— Ru- 
baceous  fruits  — Ribaceous  fruits— Miscellaneous  bush-fruits 
—  Strawberry  culture— Cranberry  culture.—  Non-woody  or 
herb-like  fruits— Musaceous  fruits  — Pineapple— Cactaceous 
fruits — Miscellaneous  herb-like  fruits 2-7 

THE  GEOGRAPHY  OF  FRUIT-GROWING.  The  temperature 
determinant— The  moisture  determinant— The  soil  deter- 
minant—The parasite  determinant 7-25 

THE  COURSE  OF  EVOLUTION  OF  A  FRUIT-REGION.        .        .      26-27 

THE  OUTLOOK  FOR  FRUIT-GROWING.  The  two  factors  con- 
cerned—Farmers do  not  become  rich— Always  a  demand  for 
the  unlike— Choice  of  business  is  a  matter  of  taste  and  cap- 
ital—Farmer must  master  his  local  conditions  — The  fruit- 
grower, therefore,  must  be  trained— Best  farmers  are  often 
not  brought  up  on  the  farm— The  farmer  is  his  own  business 
manager— Outlook  best  in  those  fruits  which  make  the 
greatest  number  of  secondary  products.  —  Is  there  over  pro- 
duction of  fruit? — Insufficient  distribution— Tendency  must 
be  for  cheaper  fruit— Normal  failure  of  many  plantations.  .  27-36 


xii  Contents. 

CHAPTER   II. 

PAGES 
THE  LOCATION  AND  ITS  CLIMATE 37-131 

THE  PLACE.  The  geography  of  a  fruit  farm  — Choice  with 
reference  to  markets  and  frosts.— Location  with  reference  to 
market  —  Importance  of  transportation  facilities  — The  per- 
sonal markets.—  Location  with  reference  to  frosts —  Frosts 
and  freezes  — Proximity  to  bodies  of  water— Nature  of  the 
influence  of  lakes  — Retardation  of  bloom— Elevation  and 
frost  — Climate  held  responsible  for  too  much— The  declining 
peach  areas.—  Winds  and  air-currents  in  relation  to  fruit- 
yroti-ing  —  High  and  rolling  lands  — High  winds  to  be  avoided 
—  Effects  of  winds  in  drying  up  land  and  plants— Low  wind- 
breaks to;  lessen  evaporation. — Atmospheric  drainage— The 
currents  of  air— Cold  and  dense  air  settles  in  low  places  — 
The  frosty  belt  below  a  wood— Very  small  objects  intercept 
movement  of  cold  air— Temperatures  of  high  and  low  sta- 
tions   37-57 

THE  SITE  FOR  THE  FRUIT  PLANTATION.  Elevated  sites 
usually  better— The  exposure.  —  The  aspect— North  and  south 
slopes 58-61 

WIND-BREAKS  FOR  FRUIT  PLANTATIONS.  Tabulated  opin- 
ions of  fruit-growers  — Epitome  of  benefits  of  wind-breaks- 
Experiences  adverse  to  wind-breaks.  —  Statements  of  authors 
—Wind-breaks  for  many  kinds  of  fruits  and  in  various  parts 
of  the  country.  —  Forests  and  fruit-growing  —  Influence  upon 
wind  and  moisture  — Its  relation  to  insects  and  diseases. — 
Jleriew  of  the  influences  of  n-ind-breaks  upon  fruit  planta- 
fiox.s-What  winds  it  is  desired  to  break- Winds  from  bodies 
of  water— The  effect  of  a  wind-break  upon  winds.  —  Position 
of  the  wind-break  with  reference  to  the  fruit  plantation— The 
prevailing  winds— Opinions  of  fruit-growers.  —  How  to  make 
the  wind-break  — 'Kinds  of  trees— Opinions  of  fruit-growers— 
Conclusions.  —  General  summary  upon  wind-breaks  —  Con- 
densed statements  of  benefits  and  injuries  ....  62-92 

PROTECTING  PLANTATIONS  FROM  FROST.  Mulching  to  en- 
able plants  to  escape  frost  — Experiments  at  Ithaca— Mulching 
strawberries  —  Conclusions.  —  Co  vering  plants  for  protect  ion — 
Methods  of  covering— Laying  down  blackberries  and  rasp- 
berries—Protecting peach  trees.  —  Adding  vapor  of  water 


Contents. 


to  the  air— Irrigating  and  flooding— Spraying  for  frost— Till- 
ing—Systematic  evaporation"  of  water  in  orchards.  —  The 
making  of  smudges  —  Characteristics  of  a  good  smudge — Ma- 
terials to  use— Spraying  the  smudges— An  account  of  Euro- 
pean experience.—  Making  currents  of  air— Heating  the  air 

—Use  of  large  fires 

THE    PREDICTION    OP    FROST.       Records  of   frosts— Frost 
charts  — The  psychrometer— Finding  the  dew-point. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  TILLAGE  OF  FRUIT  LANDS.     .....         133-174 

Evolution  of  tillage— Apparently  contrary  to  nature— Com- 
parison with  the  forest— Weeds— Neglect  of  apple  orchards. 

THE  PHILOSOPHY  OP  TILLAGE.  Three  main  objects  of  till- 
age.— The  texture  of  the  soil— Physical  conditions  more  im- 
portant than  mere  plant-food.—  The  moisture  of  the  soil- 
Drought  and  rainfall— The  moisture  reservoir— Fall  plowing 
—  Tillage  to  save  moisture— The  earth-mulch.  .  .  .138-145 

USE  OF  THE  VARIOUS  TOOLS  IN  RELATION  TO  CONSERVA- 
TION OF  MOISTURE.  Plowing  to  save  moisture  — The  test  of 
good  plowing.  —Harrowing  to  save  moisture— The  spring- 
tooth  harrow— The  acme  harrow— The  disc  harrows  — The 
smoothing  harrows.  —  Cultivators  and  conservation  of  mois- 
ture—Level culture  vs.  ridge  culture.  —  The  roller  in  its 
relation  to  soil  moisture  —  Difficulty  of  using  the  roller  prop- 
erly—Its relation  to  seeding— Should  be  followed  by  tillage  .  145-154 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  THE  TILLING  OF  FRUIT  LANDS.  Drain- 
ing— Subsoiling—  Preliminary  preparation  of  land  for  fruit 
plantations  — The  plowing  of  the  orchard— Level  culture— 
The  tools  — Harnesses  — The  tillage  in  the  early  and  late  years 
of  the  orchard.  —  Specific  remarks  —  1,  Begin  to  till  when  the 
orchard  is  planted,  and  till  the  entire  surface— The  deep  root- 
ing of  trees— 2,  Tillage  should  be  begun  early  in  the  season, 
in  orchards  — The  early  growth  of  trees— 3,  Tillage  should 
generally  be  stopped  in  late  summer  or  very  early  fall  — 4,  Till 
in  such  manner  that  the  land  may  be  in  uniform  fine  tilth  — 
5,  Tillage  may  be  overdone -Too  rapid  growth  .  .  .  154-169 


xiv  Contents. 

PAGES 

CROPPING  THE  ORCHARD.  The  open  space  about  the  tree— 
The  kind  of  crops  for  an  orchard  — Nursery  stock  in  fruit 
plantations  — Sod  in  the  orchard— Fallowing  the  orchard  .  170-174 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  FERTILIZING  OP  FRUIT  LANDS        ....         175-223 

Plants  will  grow  without  fertilizers  — Profit  may  lie  in 
using  additional  plant-food,  however— Humus— Formation 
of  soils— Weeds. 

THE  LESSON  OF  NURSERY  LANDS.  Injuries  to  such  lands- 
Source  of  fertility  in  soils  — Man's  treatment  of  the  land  — 
The  features  of  the  nursery  lands  — The  conclusions  respect- 
ing the  depletion  of  nursery  lands 178-1 815 

COVER  CROPS.  What  they  are— Objects  of  their  use  — Ex- 
periments with  covers  at  Cornell.  —  The  kinds  of  cover  crops 
—  A  local  question— Rye— Corn,  buckwheat  and  cereals— Peas 
and  beans  — Cow  pea— Vetch— Crimson  Clover— Analyses  .  184-202 

FERTILIZING  THE  FRUIT  PLANTATION.  Trees  vs.  annual 
crops  — Plant-food  taken  up  by  trees  — Effects  of  the  various 
elements— New  Jersey  experiments  in  fertilizing  peaches.— 
Stable  manure  —  Rotation  in  manures  — Danger  of  over  use 
of  barn  manures.  —  Chemical  fertilizers  —  Nitrogen  —  Potash- 
Phosphoric  acid  — Recommendations  by  Voorhees.  —  Sum- 
mary statement 202-223 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE  PLANTING  OF  FRUIT  GROUNDS        ....        224-276 

THE  CHOICE  OF  VARIETIES.  A  personal  question— The 
mental  ideal— 1,  Follow  personal  preferences— 2,  Obtain  a 
specific  ideal  of  the  purpose  for  which  the  fruit  is  to  be 
grown  — 3,  Do  not  covet  varieties  of  other  geographical  re- 
gions—4,  Choose  with  reference  to  local  environment— 5, 
Choose  with  reference  to  inter-pollination— The  mixing  of 
varieties— Lists  of  self-fertile  and  self-sterile  varieties— 6, 
The  choice  should  be  aided  by  inquiry  of  many  persons  and 
accessible  writings  .........  224-230 


Contents.  xv 

PAGES 

THE  SELECTION  OF  THE  PLANTS.  What  is  first-class  stock? 
—  Age  at  which  to  buy.  —  Dwarfs  vs.  standards  — The  parent- 
age of  the  stock  may  affect  its  value— Buying  the  trees- 
Peddlers— Near-by  nurseries 230-237 

THE  SETTING  OF  THE  PLANTS.  When  to  plant—  Fall  vs. 
spring -Stripped  trees. -Distance  apart-The  mixing  of 
species,  or  double  planting— The  opinions  of  Van  Deman.— 
How  to  plant  the  stock  —  Preparing  the  land— Making  the 
holes -Mulching-  Puddling.-  Trimming  the  trees-The  two 
ideals-Illustrations  of  methods -Trim  after  planting-Trim- 
ming fall-set  trees 237-254 

THE  LAYING  OUT  OF  THE  FRUIT  PLANTATION.  Surveying 
the  land— The  corn  marker— Tree  placers.  — To  layout  with 
the  plow  — Laying  out  with  a  line— Another  line  method- 
Staking  methods  — Orchard  plans  — The  hexagonal  or  Van 
Deman  plan— The  alternate  plan— The  Wellhouse  plan— 
The  Parker  Earle  plan— The  Olden  plan— Hale  and  Olden 
plans  for  peach  orchards.  —  The  family  fruit  plantation  .  .  254-276 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    SECONDARY  AND   INCIDENTAL    CARE   OF   THE   FRUIT 

PLANTATION     .         .         .         .  •      .         .         .         .        277-343 

Epitome  of  methods  of  tilling  the  land— May  not  be  neces- 
sary to  plow  when  orchard  is  grown -Effect  of  breaking  the 
roots— The  tools— Importance  of  saving  the  moisture. 

THE  GENERAL  CAKE  OF  THE  PLANTS.  Staking  young 
trees  —  Sun-scald— Bark-bound  trees  — Scraping  trees— Gir- 
dled trees  and  girdling— Pruning  and  "heading -in— Winter 
preparations— Depredations  of  stock  and  birds— Top -graft- 
ing bearing  trees— Thinning  the  fruit  282-306 

MAPS  AND  RECORDS.     Record  books  and  plans— Labels       .  307-313 

INJURIES  BY  COLD  AND  RAIN.  Winter-killing  of  the  wood 
—  Winter-killing  of  the  fruit-buds  — Injuries  to  the  swelling 
buds  — Injuries  to  flowers  and  growing  parts—  What  is  an  in- 
jurious degree  of  cold?  — The  effect  of  rain  upon  blossoms  .  313-340 

RENOVATING  OLD  ORCHARDS.  Nature  of  the  problem— How 
to  begin  and  what  to  expect— Why  are  orchards  barren  ?  .  340-343 


xvi  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGES 
DISEASES,  INSECTS  AND  SPRAYING 344-377 

Historical  contrast  respecting  spraying— Secondary  results 
of  the  spraying  idea— Calls  attention  to  pests— Forces  new 
ideals— Will  bring  in  some  of  the  discarded  varieties— Forces 
a  closer  study  of  companionships  of  pests  and  crops,  and  of 
rotations— Will  take  its  place  as  one  of  the  cardinal  opera- 
tions of  fruit  farming— Will  force  better  care  of  the  planta- 
tion—Will make  the  grower  more  watchful— Will  enlarge  his 
horizon  — Classification  of  pests  and  diseases  — Insects  — Para- 
sitic fungi  — Physiological  and  germ  diseases— Borers  — Root- 
galls— Injuries  by  hail— Bagging. 

SPECIFIC  REMARKS  UPON  SPRAYING.  1,  Spraying  is  only 
one  of  the  requisites  to  success  in  fruit-raising— 2,  Spraying 
is  an  insurance— 3,  Spraying  is  of  some  value  every  year 
upon  apples, pears,  plums,  quinces,  grapes  and  various  other 
fruits  —  4,  Spray  thoroughly,  or  not  at  all— 5,  Prepare  for 
next  year's  u-ork  during  the  winter— 6,  The  style  of  pump 
and  nozzle  to  vse  depends  almost  wholly  upon  the  particular 
kind  of  work  to  be  done  — 7,  The  farmer  should  know  what  he 
wants  to  kill  before  he  begins  to  spray  — 8,  The  time  to  spray 
must  be  determined  for  each  particular  case  — 9,  Prepare 
stock  solutions  for  the  Bordeaux  mixture,  rather  than  to 
make  each  batch  in  the  quantities  called  for  by  the  formula  — 
10,  How  can  one  tell  if  soluble  arsenic  is  present  in  Paris 
green  ?— 11,  How  can  one  determine  if  Paris  green  is  pure  ? 
—  12,  What  becomes  of  the  arsenic  when  it  falls  upon  the 
soil? — Summary.  .........  353-377 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
HARVESTING  AND  MARKETING  FRUIT  ,  378-479 

PICKING  FRUITS.  When  to  pic k  —  Long-keeping  and  ripe- 
ness— Apples — Pears — Peaches  and  apricots — Cherries  and 
plums.— How  to  pick  —  Pick  by  the  stem — Leave  the  stem  on 
—  Fruit  is  picked  in  temporary  receptacles — Ladders  — Fruit  - 
pickers— Keep  fruit  away  from  the  sun — Keeping  records 
with  the  pickers — Necessity  of  hand-picking.  .  .  .  378-401 


Contents.  xvii 

PAGES 

THE  PACKING  OF  FRUIT.  What  is  first-class  fruit?— Im- 
portance of  uniformity  in  size. — How  to  pack — The  tiers  or 
layers  of  fruit— Facing  fruit  in  barrels  — Packing  for  export 
—  Packing  in  California— German  agitation— Wrapping  the 
fruits — Snugness  in  packing — Trade-marks  — Fruit  must  be 
well  grown. — Packages 401-425 

PACKING  HOUSES  AND  APPLIANCES.  Two  types  of  houses 
-Packing  tables— Sorting  tables-Apple  presses  .  .  .425-434 

STORING  FRUITS.  General  advice  — Storage  is  a  business 
by  itself— Temporary  storage— Risks  in  storing— Coopera- 
tive storage.  —  Requisites  for  domestic  storage— Ventilation 
—Moisture— Fruit  trays.  — Storage  Buildings — Various  types 
—Vermont  apple  house — Alwood's  house— Alcoholic  vapor 
as  a  fruit  preservative.  ........  435-461 

SHIPPING  AND  REACHING  THE  CONSUMER.  The  grower 
and  the  consumer—  How  to  reach  the  market.—  Refrigerator 
cars  —  Shipping  associations — An  illustration  of  a  fruit 
market.  .  461-479 


APPENDIX  (pages  481-500) 

I.     HOW   DID   THE   VARIETIES  OF   FRUITS  ORIGINATE?     481-482 

II.    EEMARKS  ON  CLASSIFYING  AND  DESCRIBING  FRUITS  483-487 
III.    AMERICAN  BOOKS  ON  FRUIT-GROWING.          .        .  488-501 


THE   PRINCIPLES   OF    FRUIT  - 
GROWING. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTORY  DISCUSSION. 

FRUIT-GROWING  and  pomology  are  synonymous 
terms.  They  comprise  the  whole  art  of  raising 
fruits  and  fruit-trees,  and  the  applications  of  the 
various  sciences  thereto.  It  is  impossible  to  define 
what  a  fruit  is,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is 
universally  understood  in  pomological  writings.  It  is 
best  delimited  by  giving  a  list  of  those  products 
which  are  commonly  known  as  fruits.  If  a  defini- 
tion were  attempted  of  the  use  of  the  word  in  its 
pomological  application,  it  would  be  approximately 
correct  to  say  that  a  fruit  is  the  edible  product  of 
a  woody  or  a  tree -like  plant,— as  of  a  tree,  bush,  or 
vine, —  and  which  is  intimately  associated  in  its  de- 
velopment with  the  flower.  This  conception  of  a 
fruit  is  wholly  unlike  the  botanical  idea,  for  the 
botanist  defines  the  fruit  to  be  the  ripened  pericarp 
and  attachments.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that 
this  confusion  in  terminology  is  not  the  fault  of 


2  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

the  horticulturist,  for  the  botanists  have  taken  this 
common -language  word  and  have  given  it  a  tech- 
nical meaning.  The  word  belongs  primarily  to  gen- 
eral literature  and  horticulture,  and  if  the  botanist 
desires  to  impress  it  into  other  service,  he  must  be 
prepared  to  accept  the  confusion  which  arises. 


INVENTORY     OF     FRUITS. 

Pomological  fruits  may  be  roughly  classified  under 
four  heads, —  tree  fruits,  vine  fruits,  small  fruits, 
and  herb -like  fruits.  The  following  is  an  inventory 
of  the  staple  fruits  of  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada, and  of  those  lesser  known  species  which,  hav- 
ing been  tried  in  this  territory,  either  give  promise 
of  successful  cultivation  here  or  have  been  more 
or  less  prominent  subjects  of  discussion: 

CLASS  I.    ORCHARD*  CULTURE,  OR  TREE-FRUIT  CULTURE. 
SUB-CLASS  1.     Pomaceous  fruits. 
Apple,  Pyrns  Mains. 
Crab  apple,  Pyrus  baccata. 
Prairie  crab,  Pyrus  loensis. 
Atlantic  crab,  Pyrus  coronaria. 
Pear,  Pyrus  communis. 
Sand  pear,  Pyrus  Sinensis. 
Quince,  Pyrits  Cydonia. 
Chinese  quince,  Pyrus  Cathayensis. 
Japan  quince,  Pyrus  Japonica. 
Maule's  quince,  Pyrns  Maulei. 
Medlar,  Mespilus  Gennanica. 
Loquat,  Eriobotrya  Japonica. 

*  Orchard  (originally  herb-yard,  and   now  rarely  written   hortyard).     An  as- 
semblage or  plantation  of  fruit  trees. 


The    Orchard   Fruits. 

SUB-CLASS  2.    Drupaceous  or  stone  fruits. 
Plum,  Primus  domestica. 
Myrobalan  plum,  Prunus  cerasifera. 
Japan  plum,  Prunus  triflora. 
American  plum,  Prunus  Americana. 
Wild  Goose  plum,  Prunus   hortulana. 
Chickasaw  plum,  Primus  angustifolia. 
Sand  plum,  Prunus   Watsoni. 
Beach  plum,  Prunus  maritima. 
Pacific  plum,  Prunus  subcordata. 
Apricot  plum,  Prunus  Simonii. 
Sweet  cherry,  Prunus  Avium. 
Sour  cherry,  Prunus  Cerasus. 
Sand  cherry,  Prunus  Besseyi. 
Peach  and  nectarine,  Prunus  Persica. 
Apricot,  Prunus  Armeniaca. 
Japan  apricot,  Prunus  Mume. 
Purple  apricot,  Prunus  dasycarpa. 

SUB-CLASS  3.    Citrous  fruits. 
Orange,  Citrus  Aurantium. 
Tangierine  orange,  Citrus  noMUs. 
Citron,  Citrus  Medica. 
Lemon,  Citrus  Medica  var.  Limon. 
Lime,  Citrus  Medica  var.  Limetta. 
Sour  lime  (lime  of  the  U.  S.),  Citrus  Medica  var.  acris. 
Grape-fruit,  Shaddock  or  Pomelo,  Citrus  Decumana. 
Kumquat,  Citrus  Japonica. 
Trifoliate  orange,  ^Egle  (or  Citrus)  trifoliata. 
Glycosmis,  Glycosmis  aurantiaca. 
Lime  berry,  Triphrasia  trifoliata. 
White  sapota,  Casimiroa  edulis. 

SUB-CLASS  4.    Moraceous  fruits. 
Fig,  Ficus  Carica. 

White  (and  Russian)  mulberry,  Morus  alba. 
Black  mulberry,  Morus  nigra. 
Red  mulberry,  Morus  rubra. 
Downing  imilberry,  Mortis  multicaulis. 
Japan  mulberry,  Morus  Japonica. 
Bread-fruit,  Artocarpus  incisa. 


I  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

SUB-CLASS  5.     Anonaceous  fruits. 
Sour-sop,  Anona  muricata. 
Sugar-apple,  Anona  squamosa. 
Cherimoya,  Anona  Cherimolia. 
Pond-apple,  Anona  laurifolia. 
And  other  anonas. 
Northern  Papaw,  Asimina  triloba. 

SUB-CLASS  6.     Myrtaceous  fruits. 

Guava,  Psidium  Guajava,  and  others. 
Rose-apple,  Eugenia  Jumbos. 
Surinam  cherry,  Eugenia  uniflora. 
And  other  eugenias. 

SUB-CLASS  7.     Sapotaceous  fruits. 
Sapodilla,  Achras  Sapota. 
Marmalade  tree,  Lucuma  mammosa. 
Star-apple,  Chrysophyllum  Cainito. 
And  others. 

SUB-CLASS  8.     Anacardiaceous   fruits. 
Mango,  Maitgifera  Indica. 
Jew  plum,  Spondias  dulcis. 

SUB-CLASS  9.     Ebenaceous  fruits. 

Kaki  (Japan  persimmon),  Diospyros  Kaki. 
Persimmon,  Diospyros    Virginiana. 

SUB-CLASS  10.  Leguminous  fruits. 
Tamarind,  Tamarindus  Indica. 
St.  John's  Bread,  or  Carob,  Ceratonia  siliqua. 

SUB-CLASS  11.     Nut-fruits  (Nuciculture) . 
Walnut,  Juglans  regia. 
Japan    walnut,  Juglans  Sieboldiana. 
Black  walnut,  Juglans  nigra. 
Butternut,  Juglans  cinerea. 
Pecan,  fficorla  Pecan. 
Shell-bark  hickory,  Hicoria  ovata  and  H.  laciniosa. 


The    Orchard   and    Vine   Fruits. 

European  chestnut,  Castanea  vesca. 
American  chestnut,  Castanea  Americana. 
Japan    chestnut,  Castanea  Japonica. 
Chinquapin,  Castanea  pumila. 
Filbert,  Corylus  Avellana. 
Litchi,  Nephelium  Litchi. 
Ginkgo,  Ginkgo  biloba. 
Almond,  Prunus  Amygdalus. 
Russian  almond,  Prunus  nana. 
Tropical  almond,  Terminalia  Catappa. 
Cashew,  Anacardium  occidentale. 
Pistacio,  Pistacio  vera. 

SUB-CLASS  12.    Palmaceous  fruits. 

Cocoa-nut,  Cocos  nucifera. 
Date,  Phoenix  dactylifera. 
And  others. 

SUB-CLASS  13.    Miscellaneous  tree-fruits. 

Olive,  Olea  Europma. 

Pomegranate,  Punica  Granatum. 

Papaw,  Carica  Papaya. 

Hovenia,  Hovenia  dulcis. 

Jujube,  Zizyphus  Jujuba,  and  others. 

Myrica,  Myrica  Nagi  ( M.  rubra). 

Sea-grape,  Coccoloba  uvifera. 

Otaheite  gooseberry,  Phyllanthus  disticha. 

Spanish  lime,  Melicocca  bijuga. 

Alligator  pear,  Persea  gratissima. 

Strawberry  tree,  Arbutus   Unedo. 

Mammee  apple,  Mammea  Americana. 

CLASS  II.    VINE-FRUIT  CULTURE. 

SUB-CLASS  1.    Viticulture;  comprising 
Wine  grape,  Vitis  vinifera. 
Fox  grape,  Vitis  Labrusca. 
Summer  grape,   Vitis  cestivalis, 
Post-oak  grape,  Vitis  cestivalis,  var.  Linsecomii. 
Muscadine  and  Scuppernong  grapes,    Vitis  rotundifolia. 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Sand  grape,  }'itis  rupestris. 
River-bank  grape,    I'itis  vulpina. 
And  other  native  species  of  vitis. 

SUB-CLASS  2.     Passifloraceous  fruits. 

Granadilla,  Passiflora  edulis. 
And  others. 


CLASS   III.     SMALL-FRUIT*  CULTURE. 
SUB-CLASS  1.     Bush-fruits. 

Group  a.     Rubaceous  fruits  (cane-fruits,  or  bramble-fruits). 
Raspberry,  Hubus  Idceus. 
Black-cap  raspberry,  Hubus  occidentalis. 
Red  raspberry,  Hubus  strigosus. 
Wineberry,  JRubus  phcenicolasius. 
Blackberry,  Subus  villosus. 
Northern  dewberry,  JRubus  Canadensis. 
Southern  dewberry,  JRubus  trivialis. 
Pacific  dewberry,  Hubus  vitifolius. 

Group  b.     Ribaceous  fruits. 
Currant,  Hibes  rubrum. 
Black  currant,  Hibes  nigrum. 
Buffalo  currant,  Hibcs  aureum. 
Gooseberry,  Hibes  Grossularia. 
American   gooseberry,  Hibes  oxyacanthoides. 

Group  c.     Miscellaneous  bush-fruits. 
Juneberry,  AmelancJiier  oblong i folia. 
Buffalo  berry,  Shepherdia  argentea. 
Goumi,  Elceagnus  multiflora  ( E.  longipes ). 
Caraunda,  Carissa  Carundas. 

*  Small-fruits.  A  term  applied  to  all  small  and  berry-like  fruits  which  are 
produced  upon  bushes  or  perennial  herbaceous  plants;  as  currant,  blackberry, 
raspberry,  strawberry.  In  Europe  the  strawberry  is  classed  with  garden  vege- 
tables. Small-fruits  is  an  American  term. 

Bush-fruits.  Fruits  which  are  borne  upon  bushes,  or  small  woody  plants 
destitute  of  a  central  stem  or  axis.  It  is  an  English  term,  and  is  equivalent 
to  small-fruits,  except  that  it  does  not  include  the  strawberry. 


Non  -  ivoody   Fruits . 

SUB-CLASS  2.     Strawberry  culture. 

Garden  strawberry,  Fragaria  Chiloensis. 

Hautbois  strawberry,  Fragaria  moschata. 

Alpine  strawberry,  Fragaria  vesca. 
>-      Virginian  strawberry,  Fragaria    Virginiana. 

SUB-CLASS  3.     Cranbei-ry  culture. 

Common  cranberry,   Vaccinitnn  macrocarpon. 

CLASS   IV.    NON- WOODY  OR  HERB- LIKE  FRUITS. 
SUB-CLASS  1.    Musaceous  fruits. 
Banana,  Musa  Sapientium. 
Plantain,  Musa  pnradisiaca. 

SUB-CLASS  2.    Pineapple. 

Common  pineapple,  Ananas  sativus. 

SUB-CLASS  3.    Cactaceous  fruits. 

Prickly  pear,  Opuntia  Tuna,  and  others. 
Indian  fig,  Opuntia  Ficus-Indica. 
Barbadoes  gooseberry,  Pereskia  aculeata, 

SUB-CLASS  4.    Miscellaneous  herb-like  fruits. 
Cyphomandra,  Cyphomandra  betacea. 
Ceriman,  Monstera  deliciosa. 


THE   GEOGRAPHY  OF   FRUIT-GROWING. 

Fruit-growing,  in  common  with  all  agricultural 
pursuits,  thrives  best  in  certain  geographical  areas. 
That  is,  the  business  is  not  capable  of  equal  develop- 
ment in  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  leading  de- 
terminative factor  in  the  distribution  of  fruit -culture 
is  climate.  The  particular  quality  or  factor  of  climate 
which  determines  the  fruit -zones  differs  with  each 


8  TJie   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

type  or  group  of  fruits ;  but  in  general  it  may  be 
said  that  the  relative  annual  temperature  is  the 
most  influential  factor. 

The  temperature  determinant. —  It  is  customary  to 
recognize  three  general  climatal  fruit -zones, — the 
temperate  (typified  by  the  apple  and  the  peach),  the 
semi-tropical  (citrous  tribes,  fig,  olive,  pomegranate), 
and  the  tropical  (cocoa-nut,  banana,  anona,  mango). 
There  are  no  positive  limits  of  temperature  which 
mark  off  or  separate  these  zones ;  but  it  is  enough 
for  our  purpose  to  say  that  the  temperate  zone  is 
one  which  is  marked  by  a  long  winter  of  freezing 
and  by  the  deciduous  types  of  fruits  ;  the  semi- 
tropical  zone  is  one  in  which  the  winter  is  a  short 
season  of  light  frosts  or  only  occasional  freezes,  and 
in  which  the  fruit  trees  are  evergreen  or  very  nearly 
so  ;  and  the  tropical  zone  is  frostless,  and  is  marked 
by  evergreen  and  mostly  ever-growing  fruit -plants. 

The  limits  of  these  climatal  zones  are  exceedingly 
devious.  In  eastern  North  America,  the  northern 
limit  of  profitable  fruit-growing  is  not  far  from  the 
forty -fifth  parallel,  and  the  limit  sinks  considerably 
lower  than  this  in  the  middle  west,  and  rises  much 
above  it  on  the  Pacific  slope.  The  northern  limit 
of  the  sub -tropical  zone  in  the  east  is  Northern 
Florida  and  a  narrow  area  skirting  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  upon  the  western  side  of  the  continent 
it  extends  in  the  valley  climates  as  high  as  the 
fortieth  parallel.  The  only  portion  of  the  tropical 
fruit -zone  which  lies  in  the  United  States  is  in 
extreme  southern  Florida,  comprising  about  two 


Moisture   and   Fruit  -grmving.  9 

degrees  of  latitude  (reaching  northwards  to  about 
27°).  Beyond  all  these  bounds  there  are  special 
localities  in  which  fruits  of  the  adjacent  zone  may 
thrive  for  a  series  of  years,  and  the  fruits  of  con- 
tiguous zones  overpass.  The  strawberry  is  probably 
the  most  tractable  of  all  our  fruits  as  respects 
climates,  because  its  stature  and  habit  allow  it  to  be 
protected  from  extreme  cold  and  its  short  period 
of  growth  allows  it  to  thrive  in  the  cool  season 
of  the  warmest  sub -tropical  regions. 

The  annual  temperature  of  a  region  is  chiefly 
determined  by  three  factors, —  the  latitude,  the 
altitude,  and  the  proximity  or  remoteness  of  large 
bodies  of  water. 

The  moisture  determinant. —  The  second  chief  fac- 
tor of  climate  in  determining  the  fruit -zones  is  rela- 
tive humidity.  Whilst  the  isotherms  —  or  lines  of 
equal  temperatures  —  run  easterly  and  westerly,  the 
isohyetals — or  lines  of  equal  rainfall — have  no  in- 
trinsic direction.  They  are  determined  by  physio- 
graphical  characters.  In  the  United  States,  there  are 
three  general  fruit-zones  which  are  marked  by  pecu- 
liarities of  rainfall.  These  are  the  Atlantic  zone, 
a  moist  area  which  is  bounded  westward  approxi- 
mately by  the  Mississippi  River ;  the  plain  zone, 
extending  westward  to  the  mountains  ;  and  the 
Pacific  slope  zone.  The  two  latter  are  relatively 
dry.*  The  interior  or  plains  region  is  particularly 

*We  should,  perhaps,  make  a  fourth  division,  to  comprise  the  arid  or 
Sonoran  zone  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  but  this  area  is  yet  too  little 
known  in  a  pornological  way  to  demand  specific  treatment  here. 


10  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

trying  to  fruits  because  of  the  strong  and  dry 
winter  winds,  which  evaporate  the  moisture  from  the 
trees  whilst  the  ground  is  often  so  deeply  frozen 
that  the  roots  cannot  supply  moisture.  There  is 
probably  always  evaporation  from  tree  tops  in  win- 
ter when  the  air  is  drier  than  the  wood. 

The  fact  that  moisture  may  be  lost  from  winter 
twigs  is  a  most  important  consideration  in  the 
study  of  the  winter  injury  of  trees,  and  it  throws 
light  upon  the  severe  damage  which  often  follows 
the  "dry  freezing"  of  nursery  trees  in  transit  and 
of  fall -planted  trees.  A  few  figures  will  show  the 
extent  to  which  evaporation  may  take  place  through 
the  bark  of  dormant  twigs.* 

The  extent  to  which  loss  of  moisture  may  take 
place  through  the  bark  of  dormant  twigs  may  be 
determined  by  cutting  off  the  twigs  and  quickly 
sealing  over  the  ends  with  wax,  weighing  them,  and 
then  detecting  the  loss  in  weight  from  time  to 
time.  The  following  figures  of  such  measure- 
ments will  serve  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  moisture 
is  lost  from  winter  twigs,  although  they  are  not 
designed  to  show  the  actual  rate  of  this  loss  when 
the  twigs  occupy  their  natural  position  on  the  tree. 

April  7,  a  cion  of  apple  weighing  4.425  grams 
was  placed  on  a  balance,  and  the  loss  by  evapora- 
tion measured  at  intervals  during  three  days.  The 
cut  end  of  the  cion  was  sealed  with  wax  to  con- 
fine evaporation  to  that  which  may  take  place 
through  the  bark.  The  balance  or  scales  was  placed 

*  Bailey,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.,  Bull.  117,  pp.  385-388.    Work  done  in  Michigan. 


Loss   of  Moisture  from    Winter   Twigs. 


11 


in  a  living-room,  where  the  readings  could  be 
taken  at  frequent  intervals.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  the  rate  of  evaporation  was  nearly  constant, 
averaging  about  one -half  a  centigram  per  hour: 


Addi. 

2  hrs 

loss 

hrs 

h2r4s 

£ 

I 

ft 

& 

h'r's 

&i 

hrs 

ft 

68 

In 

loss 

k*a 

hrs 

weighing 

4.425 
grams. 

1 

eg. 

5  eg. 

2 

eg- 

5 
eg. 

2 
eg. 

5 
eg. 

4 
eg. 

2 

eg. 

2 
eg. 

4 
eg. 

2 
eg. 

2 

eg. 

3 
eg. 

39 
eg. 

8.8 

It  has  been  said  that  the  rate  of  the  loss  of 
moisture  from  trees  in  winter  determines  the  rela- 
tive hardiness  of  different  varieties  of  apples,  and 
of  some  other  fruits ;  and  similar  inferences  have 
been  made  respecting  the  ability  of  foliage  to  endure 
summer  droughts.  The  following  table  shows  studies 
of  twigs  of  varieties  of  different  degrees  of  hardi- 
ness, but  it  will  be  seen  that  the  per  cent  of  loss 
of  moisture  bears  no  relation  to  the  supposed 
hardiness  of  the  varieties. 

Early  in  April,  twigs  from  the  previous  year's 
growth  were  taken  from  several  varieties  of  apples, 
which  vary  much  in  their  ability  to  endure  our  cli- 
mate (those  marked  by  asterisks  being  supposed  to 
be  the  hardiest  varieties).  The  twigs  were  carefully 
weighed,  and  the  cut  ends  were  then  sealed  with 
wax  to  prevent  evaporation  only  through  the  bark. 
At  the  expiration  of  two  days  the  wax  was  re- 
moved and  the  twigs  were  again  weighed.  The 
twigs  were  kept  in  an  open  shed: 


12 


The    Principles    of  Fruit -growing. 


Varieties. 

Original 
weight. 
Grains. 

Weigh  t  at 
the  expira- 
tion of  two 
days. 
Grams. 

Loss. 

Per  cent 
of  loss. 

Seek-no-further,  Twig  No.  1. 
Seek-no-further,  No.  2  
*Fameuse,  No.  1  
•Faraeuse,  No.  2  
Fall  Jennetting,  No.  1  

1.07 
1.3275 

1.095 
.82 
1.0475 

.985 
1.255 
1.025 
.725 
1. 

.085 
.0725 
.07 
.085 
.0475 

7.94 
5.46 
6.39 
10.3 
4.53 

Fall  Jennetting   No    2 

1  45 

1  3875 

06'75 

4  31 

•Northern  Spy,  No.  1  
•Northern  Spy,  No.  2  

1.38 
1.155 

1.3125 
1.0925 

.0675 
.0625 

4.89 
5.4 

1  595 

1  55 

045 

9  g 

•Oldenburg   No   2 

1  8475 

1  7475 

1 

5  3 

*Oldenburg,  No.  3  
Baldwin,  No.  1  

1.3725 
2.11 

1.265 
2.0025 

.1075 
.1075 

7.8 
5.09 

Baldwin,  No.  2  
Baldwin    No   3 

1.34 
93 

1.26 

87 

.08 
.06 

5.9 
6  4 

Rhode  Island  Greening,  No.  1 
Rhode  Island  Greening,  No.  2 
*Titovka 

1.1825 
1.055 
1  8075 

1.11 
.99 
1  7075 

.0725 
.065 
1 

G. 

5 

•Red  Astrachan,  No.  1  
•Red  Astrachan,  No.  2  

1.45 
1.4825 

1.3425 
1.4075 

.1075 
.075 

5. 

The  following  table  shows  that  there  is  great  vari- 
ation in  the  rate  of  water  loss  between  twigs  of  the 
same  variety  of  apple: 


Weight 

Varieties. 

Original 
weight. 
Grains. 

at  the  ex- 
piration 
of  three 

Loss. 
Grains. 

Per  cent 
of  loss. 

Average 
per  cent 
of  loss. 

days. 

Baldwin,  Twig  No.  1  ... 

19. 

16.9 

2.1 

11. 

No.  2.... 

19.425 

17.2 

2.225 

11.4 

No.  3  .... 

18.9 

16.75 

2.15 

11.3 

No.  4  .... 

29.25 

26.4 

2.85 

9.74 

No.  5  .... 

24.2 

2L4 

2.8 

11.5 

10.98 

Oldenburg,         No.  1  .... 

31.3 

29.4 

1.9 

6.07 

No.  2  .... 

34.65 

31.35 

3.3 

9.52 

No.  3  .... 

15.8 

14.3 

1. 

9.49 

No.  4.... 

28.95 

26.6 

2.35 

8.12 

No.  5.... 

9.5 

8.25 

1.25 

13.1 

9.26 

Evaporation  from    Trees  in    Winter.  13 

This  subject  of  moisture  loss  from  dormant  trees 
seems  to  be  a  most  important  one,  and  it  is  strange 
that  the  matter  seems  to  have  escaped  the  attention 
of  pomologists.  In  order  to  spread  a  knowledge  of 
the  subject,  further  studies  in  the  evaporation  from 
winter  twigs  have  been  made  for  me  by  my  stu- 
dent, A.  L.  Knisely,  M.S.: 

"In  January,  1897,  I  cut  twigs  of  various  kinds 
about  one  foot  in  length,  and  took  them  to  the  lab- 
oratory. When  ready  to  weigh  the  twigs,  they  were 
cut  down  to  about  four  or  five  inches  in  length,  the 
object  of  the  second  cutting  being  to  leave  as  little 
time  as  possible  between  the  cutting  of  the  twigs  and 
the  weighing.  As  soon  as  the  short  twigs  were  cut, 
they  were  weighed,  and  the  freshly  cut  ends  were 
then  dipped  in  melted  paraffine,  thus  sealing  the  cut 
surfaces  and  preventing  evaporation  except  through 
the  bark  and  buds  of  the  twigs.  After  dipping  in 
the  paraffine,  they  were  weighed  again,  and  then  put 
in  places  as  much  exposed  as  were  the  trees  from 
which  they  came  ;  in  fact,  in  some  cases,  the  twigs 
were  tied  on  the  trees  and  left  there  for  72  hours, 
and  then  weighed.  They  were  afterward  exposed  for 
another  72  hours  and  weighed  again,  making  a  total 
length  of  time  of  144  hours,  or  6  days,  that  the  twigs 
were  exposed.  During  all  this  period,  the  thermome- 
ter registered  below  the  freezing  point.  That  there 
is  loss  of  moisture  by  evaporation  is  shown  by  the 
following  table,  which  gives  the  data  obtained  from 
the  twigs  of  a  number  of  our  most  common  fruit 
and  shade  trees : 


14 


Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


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Statistics  of  Moisture   Loss. 

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16  The   Principles   of  Fruit -grouping. 

"In  observing  trees  in  continuous  severe  winter 
weather,  my  attention  has  often  been  called  to  the 
fact  that  the  twigs  seem  somewhat  duller  and  more 
somber  than  usual,  and  in  some  cases  tend  to  shrivel 
up  and  have  the  appearance  of  drying  out.  When 
a  warm  spell  comes,  this  condition  changes,  and  the 
twigs  become  brighter  and  seem  to  freshen  up,  and 
sometimes  I  imagine  that  they  become  more  plump. 
The  freshen  ing -up  feature  is  especially  noticeable  on 
large  clumps  or  groves  of  willow;  the  twigs  usually 
take  on  a  much  brighter  color  during  warm  spells 
in  winter  than  during  the  continued  freezing  weather. 
During  thawing  weather,  the  equilibrium  is  main- 
tained between  the  moisture  or  sap  in  the  tree  top 
and  that  taken  in  by  the  roots,  and  as  fast  as  mois- 
ture evaporates  from  the  tree  top,  sap  flows  up  from 
the  roots  and  the  equilibrium  is  re-established.  In 
freezing  weather,  the  moisture,  even  though  frozen, 
is  probably  evaporating  from  the  tree  tops ;  and 
the  sap,  being  frozen,  does  not  flowr  up  from  the 
roots  and  replace  the  evaporated  moisture.  Thus 
the  equilibrium  between  the  tree  tops  and  roots  is 
unbalanced,  and  it  is  at  this  time  that  the  twigs 
become  shriveled  by  reason  of  moisture  being  lost 
and  not  replaced. 

"In  support  of  these  statements,  I  made  the  fol- 
lowing investigation:  After  several  days  of  con- 
tinuous freezing  weather,  and  at  a  time  when  I 
expected  a  thaw,  I  cut  twigs  of  a  variety  of  trees 
and  estimated  the  percentage  of  moisture  contained 
in  them.  Again,  just  as  soon  as  a  thaw  came,  I  cut 


Amount   of  Moisture   Lost   in    Winter.  17 

twigs  from  the  same  trees  and  from  the  same  parts 
of  the  trees,  and  estimated  the  percentage  of  moisture 
again,  the  object  being  to  determine  if  the  twigs 
contained  less  moisture  after  several  days  of  con- 
tinued freezing  than  they  did  a  short  time  later,  dur- 
ing a  thaw.  The  last  two  columns  of  figures  in  the 
table  (pages  14  and  15)  are  upon  this  subject. 
The  average  water  content  of  those  twigs  cut  dur- 
ing a  freeze  was  47.27  per  cent,  while  that  of  those 
cut  later,  during  a  thaw,  was  48.40  per  cent,  being 
an  increase  of  1.13  per  cent,  even  though  the  trees 
had  been  constantly  losing  moisture  by  evaporation. 
Therefore  I  conclude  that  during  every  thaw  in 
winter,  the  tree  top  fills  with  sap,  and  then  if  a 
sudden  severe  freeze  comes,  we  are  likely  to  have 
injured  trees,  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  sudden  freezing 
of  the  sap,  and  to  the  loss  of  moisture  when  none 
can  be  supplied. 

"It  will  be  interesting  to  calculate  what  weight 
of  moisture  a  tree  may  lose  in  winter.  A  certain 
soft  maple,  standing  30  to  35  feet  high,  with  a  trunk 
of  15  to  18  inches  in  diameter  near  the  ground,  ex- 
poses from  750  to  800  square  feet  of  surface,  and 
loses  daily  by  evaporation  from  170  to  180  grams 
of  moisture.  A  given  elm  tree,  12  to  15  inches  in 
diameter  at  the  base,  possesses  some  300  to  400 
square  feet  of  surface,  and  loses  daily  from  70  to 
100  grams  of  moisture.  An  apple  tree  30  years  old, 
with  a  trunk  15  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  dense, 
bushy  top,  possesses  approximately  from  800  to  1,000 
square  feet  of  surface,  and  loses  daily  from  275  to 


18  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

350  grams  of  moisture."  These  calculations,  there- 
fore, may  explain  some  of  the  injuries  which  follow 
very  dry  winters. 

Since  evaporation  takes  place  through  the  bark 
of  winter  twigs,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
tenderness  of  some  trees  in  dry  winter  climates  (as 
in  our  plains  regions)  may  be  due  to  such  an  ana- 
tomical structure  of  the  bark  as  does  not  resist  evap- 
oration, and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  hardiness  may 
sometimes  be  a  matter  of  thickness  or  denseness  of 
bark.  Studies  in  this  direction  have  been  made  at 
Cornell,  and  they  indicate  that  this  supposition  may 
be  well  founded  in  certain  cases,  but  the  investi- 
gations are  not  yet  sufficiently  extended  to  allow 
of  any  definite  statements. 

The  soil  determinant.— There  are  special  adaptations 
of  fruits  to  soils.  Pomologists  are  well  aware  of 
this  fact  as  a  general  truth,  but  very  little  close 
attention  has  been  given,  in  this  country,  to  the 
minor  applications  of  it.  To  be  explicit,  it  is  well 
understood  that  pears  nourish  best  on  clay  soils  and 
peaches  best  on  sandy  soils,  but  there  are,  no  doubt, 
distinct  preferences  amongst  the  varieties  of  pears 
and  peaches  themselves.  It  is  possible,  in  fact,  that 
each  distinct  family  or  type  of  varieties  of  any 
species  has  preferences  of  land  and  location,  and  it 
will  be  the  business  of  coming  generations  to  de- 
termine what  these  peculiarities  are.  With  the  in- 
creasing refinements  and  competitions  of  the  future, 
the  special  and  local  problems  must  receive  more  and 
more  attention.  If  these  positions  are  well  taken,  it 


Adaptation   to   Soils.  19 

must  follow  that  the  promiscuous  and  wholesale  dis- 
semination of  a  few  varieties  over  the  country  must 
eventually  cease,  and  that  local  and  special  sorts 
must  constantly  tend  to  drive  out  the  cosmopolitan 
and  general  varieties.  In  this  country,  it  is  only 
in  the  strawberry  that  the  peculiarities  of  adaptation 
of  varieties  to  soils  have  begun  to  be  well  under- 
stood ;  and  this  is  rather  because  the  subject  is 
forced  upon  the  attention  by  the  short  generations 
and  constantly  shifting  plantations  of  the  plant  than 
from  any  investigational  motive. 

Many  of  our  fruits  are  very  cosmopolitan  as  to 
soils,  although  there  are,  probably,  none  of  them 
which  are  indifferent  to  even  comparatively  minor 
variations  in  land.  Of  the  temperate  fruits,  the  apple 
undoubtedly  has  the  most  generalized  adaptabilities  to 
soils,  and  this  is  closely  seconded  by  the  domestic 
plum.  Amongst  semi-tropical  fruits,  the  orange 
thrives  upon  a  wide  range  of  soils.  The  peach  and 
grape  are  more  exacting,  and  the  same  may  be  said 
of  the  pineapple  amongst  semi-tropical  fruits. 

Now  and  then  fruits  are  made  to  grow  in  soils 
which  are  uncongenial  to  them  by  working  them 
upon  adaptive  stocks.  Thus  the  plum  may  thrive 
in  sandy  regions  when  it  is  budded  upon  the  peach, 
the  pear  is  sometimes  grown  upon  very  light  lands 
by  working  it  upon  the  mountain  ash,  and  the  ma- 
haleb  cherry  is  thought  by  mosl  persons  to  be  a 
better  stock  for  strong  soils  than  for  light  ones. 
We  may  look  for  the  time  when  certain  varieties 
of  the  same  species  may  be  selected  as  stocks  for 


20  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

given  soils.  But  all  this  forced  adaptation  to  soils 
is  a  very  special  matter,  and  it  only  illustrates  the 
more  strongly  the  great  importance  of  giving  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  general  subject  of  the  adap- 
tabilities of  species,  varieties,  and  even  of  strains, 
to  variations  in  soils. 

The  parasite  determinant. — Inasmuch  as  many  of 
the  organisms  which  seriously  interfere  with  fruit- 
growing are  more  or  less  restricted  in  their  range, 
it  would  seem  to  follow  that  the  zones  of  profit- 
able fruit -culture  may  be  determined  more  or  less 
by  the  parasite  factor.  A  moment's  reflection  will 
show,  however,  that  the  geographical  distribution  of 
the  parasite  is  determined  primarily  by  climate  and 
by  the  distribution  of  its  host-plants;  so  that,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  climatal  limit  of  the  cultivation 
of  the  fruit  may  be  approximately  the  climatal  dis- 
tribution of  the  pest,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
parasite  is  local  or  cosmopolitan  according  as  the 
fruit  is  either  local  or  widely  grown. 

Many  of  the  common  pests  are  restricted  in  range 
because  they  have  not  yet  reached  the  full  limit  of 
their  distribution.  An  excellent  illustration  of  this 
fact  occurs  in  the  case  of  the  codlin-moth.  A 
generation  ago,  Michigan  was  represented  to  be  the 
Eutopia  of  the  apple  -grower  because  of  the  absence 
of  this  pest,  and  in  our  own  day  similar  recommen- 
dations have  been  made  of  Oregon  and  other  far 
western  states.  To  the  naturalist,  however,  it  was 
evident  from  the  first  that  the  insect  was  following 
closely  behind  the  apple  frontier,  as  a  storm  follows 


The   Alarm   of  Insects   and   Fungi.  21 

an  area  of  high  pressure.  It  is  evident,  too,  that 
no  amount  of  legislative  enactment  could  have  stayed 
the  dispersion  unless  it  should  have  forbidden  the 
planting  of  apple  trees. 

As  a  matter  of  practice,  the  energetic  and  intel- 
ligent fruit-grower  will  think  last  and  least  of  the 
parasite  factor  when  locating  his  plantation,  for 
this  factor  is  variable  and  migratory,  and,  moreover, 
there  are  means  of  keeping  most  fruit  pests  under 
control.  Insects  and  fungi  are  apt  to  be  bugbears — 
sometimes  literal  bugbears — to  the  fruit-grower;  but, 
after  all,  they  are  rarely  to  be  counted  upon  as  per- 
manent factors,  and  they  are  the  direct  and  perhaps 
the  most  efficient  means  of  keeping  the  farmer  in  a 
state  of  mental  alertness.  There  are  a  few  cases,  of 
course,  to  which  these  remarks  will  not  well  apply, 
but  they  are  clearly  exceptions.  One  of  these  is 
the  dreaded  nematode  root -knot-  of  the  southern 
states,  and  one  might  seriously  hesitate  in  planting 
peaches  where  the  ground  does  not  freeze  deep 
enough  to  destroy  the  pest.  The  professional  ex- 
perimenters can  determine  the  course  of  the  life- 
histories  of  the  various  pests,  and  can  point  out 
their  most  vulnerable  points,  and  may  even  devise 
general  means  for  their  eradication;  but  the  final 
application  of  this  knowledge  is  a  local  problem, 
which  each  man  must  work  out  for  himself.  Laws 
are  generally  of  little  avail  for  the  destruction  of 
pests,  except  in  those  few  cases  in  which  disease  is 
more  or  less  permanent  or  perennial,  and  in  which 
there  is  no  practicable  recourse  but  to  destroy  the 


22  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

plant  or  the  part  affected.  Such  troubles  are  peach 
yellows,  and  black -knot  of  the  plum  and  cherry.  A 
law  cannot  be  enforced  unless  public  sentiment  is 
behind  it,  and  when  public  sentiment  is  aroused  the 
law  is  not  needed.  Yet  a  law  is  often  useful  for  a 
time  to  awaken  public  sentiment  and  to  call  attention 
to  the  evil.  The  final  recourse  is  always  greater 
knowledge  and  enlightenment. 

There  are  also  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the 
enforcement  of  laws  designed  to  control  the  spread 
of  noxious  insects  and  fungi,  because  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  detect  the  eggs  of  insects  or  spores 
of  fungi  upon  a  large  number  of  plants,  and  because 
there  are  so  many  natural  and  uncontrollable  ways 
in  which  the  parasites  may  spread.  The  original 
Maryland  law,  designed  to  prevent  the  introduction  of 
fruit-tree  diseases  and  pests,  was  a  case  in  point. 
It  required  that  "whenever  any  trees,  plants  or  vines 
are  shipped  into  this  state  from  another  state,  every 
package  thereof  shall  be  plainly  labeled  on  the  out- 
side with  the  name  of  the  consignor,  and  a  certifi- 
cate showing  that  the  contents  had  been  inspected 
by  a  State  or  Government  officer,  and  that  the  trees, 
plants  or  vines  therein  contained  are  free  from  all 
San  Jose"  scale,  yellows,  rosette  and  other  injurious 
insect  or  disease."  It  would  be  impossible  for  any 
botanist  to  certify  that  a  dormant  tree  were  free  of 
all  disease ;  and  even  in  the  matter  of  San  Jose 
scale,  an  entomologist  could  not  give  a  clean  bill 
of  health  without  giving  more  time  to  the  examina- 
tion of  a  tree  than  it  is  worth.  In  the  operating  of 


Laws    and   Pests.  23 

this  law,  trees  were  allowed  to  pass  if  an  officer  certi- 
fied that  he  had  examined  them  and  had  found  no 
evidence  of  disease  thereon,  which  is  a  very  different 
matter  from  asserting  that  they  are  free  from  dis- 
ease, and  which  is  a  virtual  acknowledgment  that 
such  provisions  of  laws  really  cannot  be  enforced. 
The  best  laws  of  this  nature,  and  for  the  regulation 
of  spraying  and  the  like,  are  probably  those  which 
are  not  mandatory,  but  which  provide  a  protection 
or  a  legal  remedy  in  case  any  person  considers  him- 
self to  be  endangered  or  injured  by  the  perverseness 
or  the  negligence  of  another  ;  and  it  is  a  question 
if  the  common  law  does  not  provide  ample  redress 
for  such  grievances.  There  are  instances,  too,  in 
which  it  may  be  wise  to  make  a  general  effort  to 
stamp  out  a  pest  when  it  first  obtains  a  foothold  in 
America,  but  this  is  a  very  different  matter  from 
the  endeavor  to  control  the  spread  of  insects  and 
fungi  between  the  different  parts  of  the  country. 
The  fact  is,  that  most  insects  and  diseases  are  beyond 
the  reach  of  legislative  fiats,  and  it  is  time  that  the 
fact  were  fully  learned.  The  demand  for  functionary 
proceedings  against  the  bugs  sometimes  recalls  the 
laborious  efforts  of  the  Middle  Ages.  "At  one  time," 
writes  Fernald,*  "a  thoroughgoing  procedure,  accord- 
ing to  all  the  rules  of  jurisprudence,  occurred  before 
the  spiritual  judge.  The  accused  insects  were  sum- 
moned, and  in  case  of  non-appearance,  which  always 
occurred,  unless  the  insects  were  moving  to  new  feed- 

*C.  H.  Fernald,  "The    Evolution  of   Economic    Entomology,"  Proc.   Eighth 
Annual  Meeting  Assoc.  Econ.  Entomologists,  1896. 


24  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

ing  grounds  and  the  court-house  happened  to  be  in 
their  way,  a  proxy  was  appointed  to  represent  the 
accused  insects,  who  debated  the  whole  subject  with 
the  accuser,  after  which  judgment  was  rendered, 
invariably  against  the  accused  insects  in  the  form 
of  an  excommunication,  which  was  carried  into 
effect  only  when  the  insects  disappeared  at  the  time 
of  pupation." 

The  suggestion  which  Washington  is  said  to 
have  made  upon  the  constitution  whilst  that  in- 
strument was  under  discussion,  is  not  inapplicable 
to  the  present  subject.  A  clause  having  been  pro- 
posed that  the  standing  army  should  be  limited  to 
five  thousand  men,  he  suggested  that  another  clause 
be  inserted  forbidding  any  foreign  power  to  in- 
vade us  with  more  than  three  thousand  men! 

It  is  probably  advisable  to  provide  for  inspection 
of  plants  at  ports  of  entry,  but  too  much  should 
not  be  expected  of  such  examinations.  The  exam- 
ination soon  comes  to  be  largely  a  perfunctory 
matter,  and  the  most  serious  pests  may  easily  slip 
through  the  hands  of  officers.  It  is  probable  that  no 
law  could  be  devised  which  could  have  kept  the 
codlin-moth,  Hessian -fly,  gipsy -moth,  and  a  score  of 
other  pests,  out  of  the  country,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
fungous  diseases,  which  are  more  difficult  to  detect. 
Then,  again,  one  can  never  tell  what  insects  are  likely 
to  become  troublesome  upon  introduction  into  a  new 
country.  Many  insects  which  are  comparatively  innoc- 
uous in  their  native  country,  and  against  which,  there- 
fore, no  suspicion  exists,  may  become  scourges  in  an- 


Natural   Spread   of  Insects.  25 

other  country.  A  comparatively  harmless  insect  in 
France  becomes  the  dreaded  horn -fly  in  America. 
Again,  the  demand  for  legislation  usually  arises  be- 
cause of  the  incursion  of  some  new  intruder,  but  a 
pest  is  commonly  worst  when  newly  introduced, 
for,  like  a  prairie  fire,  it  finds  its  course  unimpeded. 
After  a  time  it  reaches  an  approximate  limit  to  its 
furious  spread,  parasites  overtake  it,  and  other  pests 
contest  its  feeding  grounds.  Nearly  all  insect  pests 
lose  "*much  of  their  terrors  after  they  have  once 
run  over  the  country.  This  is  admirably  illustrated 
in  the  potato-bug.*  In  other  words,  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  a  pest  in  formidable  numbers  is  apt  to 
result  in  a  scare,  to  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  San 
Jose  scale,  which  is  now  attracting  so  much  atten- 
tion in  the  east,  is  no  exception.  The  fact  is, 
that  insect  and  fungous  pests  are  inevitable,  and 
the  farmer  can  have  no  peace  of  mind  until  he 
accepts  the  fact,  and  then  resolutely  prepares  to 
meet  them,  both  by  strategy  and  direct  battle.  Yet, 
if  now  and  then  a  serious  pest  can  be  kept  out  of 
the  country,  even  for  a  few  years,  by  means  of  in- 
spection upon  the  frontiers,  the  effort  may  be  emi- 
nently worth  the  while. 

*  It  may  as  well  be  said,  once  for  all,  that  the  writer  uses  the  word  bug 
for  any  hard-shelled  insect.  The  entomologist  uses  it  technically  for  a 
certain  classificatory  group  of  insects,  and  he  generally  insists  that  every- 
one else  use  it  in  the  same  way;  but  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
word  was  a  common-language  term  long  before  the  entomologist  impressed 
it  into  special  use.  This  common  usage,  therefore,  has  prior  rights;  and 
since  it  is  impossible  to  make  people  use  it  in  the  entomological  sense,  it 
is  plain  that  the  entomologist  must  be  prepared  to  accept  any  confusion 
which  arises  from  his  use  of  it.  He  can  probably  arrive  at  his  purpose  quicker 
and  better  by  using  purely  technical  terms. 


26  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

THE   COURSE   OF    EVOLUTION   OF   A   FRUIT   REGION. 

Fruit-growing  is  usually  a  comparatively  late  de- 
velopment in  any  region.  The  epochs  which  precede 
the  agricultural  occupation  of  a  country  are  com- 
monly about  as  follows:  Discovery,  exploration,  hunt- 
ing, speculation,  lumbering  or  mining.  The  real  and 
permanent  prosperity  of  a  country  begins  when  the 
agriculture  has  evolved  so  far  as  to  be  self -sustain- 
ing and  to  leave  the  soil  in  constantly  better*  con- 
dition for  the  growing  of  plants.  Lumbering  and 
mining  are  simply  means  of  utilizing  a  reserve  which 
nature  has  laid  by,  and  these  industries  are,  therefore, 
self -limited,  and  are  constantly  moving  on  into  un- 
robbed  territory.  Agriculture,  when  at  its  best,  re- 
mains forever  in  the  same  place,  and  gains  in  riches 
with  the  years;  but  in  this  country  it  has  so  far  been 
mostly  a  species  of.  mining  for  plant -food,  and  then 
a  rushing  on  for  virgin  lands. 

The  first  effort  in  an  agricultural  region  is  gener- 
ally the  growing  of  the  staple  crops,  like  the  grains 
or  bread-stuffs.  This  is  both  because  the  capabilities 
of  the  country  are  all  unknown,  and  because  such 
regions  are  far  removed  from  the  markets,  and  must, 
therefore,  grow  such  commodities  as  can  be  stored  or 
shipped  long  distances;  and  it  may  be  said,  also,  that 
the  growing  of  these  crops  in  a  new  country  demands 
comparatively  little  special  skill.  The  second  devel- 
opment is  very  often  a  stock-raising  or  grazing  in- 
dustry. If  the  country  possesses  special  adaptabilities 
for  fruits,  a  man  here  and  there  will  be  found  en- 


The    Commercial    Outlook.  27 

larging  his  orchards  or  small-fruit  plantations,  and 
in  time  there  is  a  wide -spread  revolt  from  general 
farm  practices  to  fruit-growing.  The  growing  of 
specialties,  or  perishable  products,  or  those  which  are 
essentially  luxuries,  demands  the  finer  skill,  the  more 
enlightened  ideals,  and  the  less  fluctuating  employ- 
ments of  an  old  or  at  least  of  a  well -settled  coun- 
try; and  it  is  in  such  areas,  too,  that  the  best 
special  markets  are  to  be  found.  It  has  been  the  gen- 
eral experience  that  when  any  area  has  fully  committed 
itself  to  the  raising  of  any  particular  fruit,  the  busi- 
ness is  soon  carried  too  far,  and  after  a  time  a 
revulsion  and  contraction  have  come.  The  lesson 
is  that  mixed  industries  are  best  for  any  commu- 
nity, and  that  it  is  practically  impossible  to  reduce 
the  agriculture  of  any  large  region  to  a  dead  level 
of  uniformity. 

THE   OUTLOOK  FOR    FRUIT-GROWING. 

Two  sets  of  factors  chiefly  control  or  determine 
the  outlook  of  the  fruit-grower:  the  personality  of 
the  grower,  and  the  prospective  conditions  of  the  mar- 
ket. Few  people  appreciate  how  personal  a  thing 
success  is  :  yet  everyone  knows  that  any  two  persons 
placed  in  the  same  physical  and  environmental  con- 
ditions, and  given  an  equal  chance,  will  arrive  at 
very  various  results  in  business.  The  real  directive 
forces  are  matters  of  character  and  personality,  of 
which  the  most  important  requisites  seem  to  be  love 
of  the  occupation,  indomitable  energy,  cool  judge- 


28  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

ment,  and  sterling  honesty.  The  man  should  not 
set  before  himself  the  single  standard  of  money- 
getting,  when  entering  upon  a  rural  life.  The  end 
of  life  is  happiness,  and  it  may  often  be  secured 
just  as  well  on  a  moderate  income  as  on  a  large 
one.  It  is  pernicious  to  represent  that  the  farmer 
can  become  rich,  as  that  term  is  commonly  em- 
ployed. It  is  one  of  the  blessings  which  agriculture 
bestows  upon  both  the  individual  and  the  nation, 
that  it  makes  its  devotees  happy  and  comfortable 
without  making  them  wealthy.  Of  all  the  leading 
occupations  in  which  men  engage,  perhaps  there  is 
less  mere  scramble  for  money  in  agriculture  than 
anywhere  else  ;  and  for  this  very  reason  the  farmer 
must  forever  remain  a  stalwart  and  conservative 
element  in  our  national  structure.  Farming  upon  a 
modest  scale  is  capable  of  yielding  a  competent  in- 
come ;  but  the  larger  part  of  the  wealth  of  the 
small  farmer  is  of  a  wholly  different  kind  from  that 
of  the  tradesman  or  manufacturer. 

It  is  indisputable  that  there  is  always  a  demand 
for  the  best.  There  is  not  enough  of  the  best  in 
any  commodity.  A  man  cannot  make  the  best  unless 
he  has  ability  for  it.  It  is  more  important,  there- 
fore, that  the  first  tillage  and  fertilizing  and  prun- 
ing and  spraying  should  be  applied  to  the  man  and 
not  to  the  land  nor  the  crop ;  and  whilst  the  man 
is  acquiring  discipline  for  the  direct  prosecution  of 
his  business,  he  is  at  the  same  time  opening  his 
mind  to  all  the  sweetest  pleasures  of  living.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  is  always  a  surplus  of  the 


Remedy   is   Diversification.  29 

ordinary.  In  fact,  it  is  the  ordinariness  of  it  which 
makes  it  a  surplus.  Now,  inasmuch  as  most  men  are 
ordinary,  it  follows  that  most  things  which  they  make 
will  be  ordinary ;  and  it  does  not  matter  if  we  raise 
the  standard  of  all  men,  the  greater  part  will  still  be 
ordinary,  for  we  have  only  raised  the  ordinariness  of 
the  mass.  This  would  seem  to  argue  that  the  great 
majority  of  fruit-growers— to  specialize  the  problem 
— can  never  really  succeed.  This  demands  that  we 
define  what  is  commonly  meant  by  "the  best."  That 
kind  of  fruit  usually  sells  the  best  of  which  there  is 
the  least.  It  may  not  be  intrinsically  the  best.  It  is 
simply  that  in  which  there  is  the  least  competition. 
The  key-note  to  the  business,  therefore,  is  diversifi- 
cation or  individuality.  The  grower  should  aim  to 
have  something  or  to  do  something  which  his  neigh- 
bors do  not  do,  although  it  may  reallv  not  be  any 
better  than  what  they  do.  We  are  apt  jo  be  discour- 
aged by  being  told  that  "there  is  room  at  the  top," 
for  if  we  all  get  to  the  top  then  we  are  all-  on  the 
bottom.  It  is  better  to  say  that  "there  is  room  at 
the  top  and  on  the  sides."  The  best,  as  commonly 
understood,  is  really  the  unlike. 

If  every  occupation  is  already  full,  then  it  fol- 
lows that  the  choice  of  an  occupation  resolves  itself 
into  what  one  cares  for  and  what  he  has  capital 
for.  He  need  have  no  fear  of  his  success  if  he 
grows  what  people  want,  or  puts  it  up  so  as  to  make 
them  believe  that  they  want  it.  In  its  common 
levels,  fruit-growing,  like  every  other  business,  is 
undoubtedly  overdone,  and  there  is  only  a  precarious 


30  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

living  in  it.  This  is  most  emphatically  illustrated 
in  apple -growing— to  which  the  least  skilful  attention 
has  been  given — for  the  years  of  crop  are  years  of 
low  prices.  This  means  that  apple  -  growers  allow 
the  seasons  and  other  environmental  circumstances 
to  absolutely  dictate  the  bearing  time  of  the  orchard, 
and  when  one  man  has  a  crop  other  men  may 
have  one.  Yet  there  is  no  fruit  which  comes  so 
near  to  being  a  staple  commodity  as  the  apple  does, 
and  none  which  has  a  longer  market  season,  or  is 
capable  of  manufacture  into  a  greater  number  of 
secondary  products. 

Perhaps  the  last  thing  which  the  farmer  learns,  in 
respect  to  his  own  business,  is  to  thoroughly  master 
his  local  conditions.  He  must  feel  that  his  problems 
of  soil  and  exposure,  his  limitations  of  capital,  and  his 
own  tastes,  are  all  unique  and  personal,  and  he  must 
then  begin  to  work  out  his  results  in  his  own  way. 
What  he  can  learn  from  books  and  teachers  are 
principles  and  truths,  he  can  pick  up  suggestions, 
and  he  can,  above  all,  acquire  an  ability  to  grasp  his 
local  problems ;  but  he  must  solve  his  problems  for 
himself.  This  is  the  secret  of  that  close  and  single- 
minded  attention  to  business  which  makes  for  the 
greatest  success. 

The  most  profitable  stock  in  trade  of  the  fruit- 
grower, therefore,  as  already  indicated,  is  training ; 
and  if  a  good  part  of  this  training  is  in  pure  busi- 
ness methods,  very  much  will  be  gained,  for  there 
are  probably  ten  men  who  can  grow  a  given  quality 
of  fruit  wrhere  there  is  one  who  can  sell  it  to  advan- 


Farming   and   Business.  31 

tage.  All  this  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  very  many 
of  our  best  farmers  are  men  who  were  not  brought 
up  on  the  farm,  or  who,  at  least,  soon  left  it  for 
other  business.  Good  business  men  nearly  always 
make  a  success  of  farming.  They  come  into  the 
business  with  trained  minds,  skilled  judgment,  and 
especially  without  too  much  stereotyped  knowledge, 
and,  therefore,  without  prejudice.  They  are  willing 
to  learn,  and  they  quickly  assimilate  new  ideas.  It 
sometimes  seems  as  if  the  farmers  of  the  future  are 
to  come  largely  from  other  occupations,  where  men 
are  free  from  the  bonds  of  tradition. 

In  other  words,  there  are  two  distinct  lines  of 
effort  in  farming  :  one  is  farming  proper,  or  the 
growing  of  crops;  ami  the  other  is  business  method, 
which  is  a  matter  of  executive  management.  One 
difficulty  with  agriculture  at  the  present  time  is  the 
fact  that  every  farmer  is  his  own  business  manager, 
and  it  is  probably  true  that  less  than  one -fourth  of 
the  men,  taking  them  as  they  run,  are  competent  to 
manage  a  business.  When  the  boys  leave  the  farm 
for  the  city,  they  fall  under  the  management  of  the 
proprietor  of  an  industry  or  a  business,  and  after  a 
time  all  those  individuals  who  show  special  aptitude 
for  executive  business  rise  to  their  opportunities,  and 
themselves  become  managers  and  proprietors.  In  the 
increasing  complication  and  complexities  of  the  future, 
those  farmers  who  are  not  good  executive  business 
men  will  be  obliged  to  give  their  attention  solely  to 
those  enterprises  to  which  they  are  best  adapted;  so 
that  there  must  gradually  come  to  be  a  separation  be- 


32  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing, 

tween  the  business  of  growing  fruit  and  the  business 
of  handling  and  marketing  it. 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  general  principle  that  the 
commercial  outlook  is  best  in  those  fruits  which 
readily  yield  themselves  to  the  greatest  number  of 
secondary  or  manufactured  products,  such  as  canned 
or  evaporated  goods,  jellies  and  sauces,  liquors,  oils, 
or  other  commodities  used  in  the  arts.  In  these 
fruits  the  grower  is  not  dependent  upon  a  single 
outlet  for  his  crop ;  and  it  should  be  said  that  if 
there  is  but  a  single  important  outlet  for  a  fruit, 
that  outlet  is  usually  the  sale  in  the  fresh  state, 
which  is  the  most  precarious  disposition  which  can  be 
made  of  perishable  products.  ^  This  truth  is  well 
illustrated  in  the  eastern  grape  business.  The  grape 
is  consumed  almost  wholly  as  a  dessert  fruit,  the 
only  other  emphatic  outlet  being  in  wine -making, 
which  is  comparatively  unimportant  in  the  east. 
As  a  consequence,  the  grower  is  largely  at  the 
mercy  of  the  market,  and  this  market  may  be  defi- 
nitely and  easily  overstocked.  In  the  case  of  apples 
and  peaches,  the  grower  has  the  alternative  of  can- 
ning or  drying  the  crop,  and  he  may,  therefore, 
be  comparatively  independent  of  the  contemporaneous 
market. 

In  years  of  heavy  crops  the  returns  from  poor 
fruit  are  the  leas.t.  and  it  often  happens  that  the 
only  good  which  comes  from  such  yields  is  the  lesson 
upon  the  business  and  the  morals  of  good  grading 
and  packing;  yet  even  this  forceful  lesson  seems 
either  not  to  reach  the  major  part  of  fruit -raisers, 


Lesson   of  the   Apple    Crop   of  1896.  33 

or  else  it  is  forgotten  before  the  next  year  of  super- 
fluous yields.  The  enormous  apple  crop  of  1896  was 
one  of  these  epochs.  W.  C.  Barry*  makes  the  fol- 
lowing remarks  upon  this  crop,  quoting  at  first 
from  an  English  fruit -receiver:  "  'In  the  first  place, 
quantities  have  been  far  too  excessive,  and  a  very 
large  proportion  of  the  fruit  has  been  and  is  of  a 
class  that  prevents  rather  than  favors  extended  con- 
sumption. With  the  knowledge  of  the  exceptionally 
abundant  crop,  we  should  have  thought  shippers 
would  see  the  necessity  for  extra  care  in  selecting 
the  fruit,  but  instead  of  this,  indiscriminate  ship- 
ping seems  to  have  been  practiced  largely,  while 
the  heavy  percentage  of  faulty  conditioned  barrels 
indicates  that  the  packing  has  also  been  defective.' 
In  this  way,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  crop  was 
practically  lost.  The  outlook  is  certainly  discourag- 
ing, but  if  we  are  willing  to  profit  by  the  experience 
of  the  year  and  learn  a  lesson,  it  will  be  of  advan- 
tage to  us.  It  must  be  self-evident  that  hereafter 
greater  care  must  be  exercised  in  packing,  and  choicer 
fruit  must  be  selected  for  both  home  and  foreign 
markets.  It  will  probably  be  many  years  until  a 
similar  crop  will  be  produced.  In  the  meantime, 
growers  should  provide  themselves  with  storage 
houses,  where  the  fruit  can  be  kept  till  the  time 
arrives  to  market  it  advantageously.  *  *  *  As 
the  years  pass  and  our  experience  increases,  it  be- 
comes evident  that  a  greater  variety  of  products  is 
necessary  to  success.  The  fruit-grower  should  en- 

*  President's  Address  to  Western  New  York  Horticultural  Soc.,  Jan.  27,  1897. 
D 


34  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

large  his  sphere  of  work,  and  cultivate  fruits  for  the 
various  seasons  of  the  year,  thus  giving  employ- 
ment to  a  regular  force  of  hands,  who,  on  account 
of  their  proficiency,  become  indispensable  on  a  fruit 
farm.  Crops  should  be  anticipated,  and  markets 
provided  just  as  the  manufacturer  seeks  and  secures 
sale  for  his  goods." 

Is  there  over-production  of  fruit  f — All  these  re- 
marks bring  up  the  old  question  as  to  whether  there 
is  an  over-production  of  fruit.  The  probability  is 
that  there  is  not  an  absolute  over-production  except 
in  speeial  years ;  that  is,  that  there  is  not  more 
fruit  grown  than  can  be  consumed  in  one  way  or 
another.  It  is  very  likely,  however,  that  there  is 
frequently  a  relative  over-production, — that  there 
is  more  fruit  grown  than  can  be  consumed  in  the 
markets  which  are  ordinarily  at  the  disposal  of 
the  grower.  The  difficulty  is  probably  rather  more 
one  of  unequal  or  imperfect  distribution  than  of 
absolute  over-production  of  the  commodity.  The 
tendency  of  the  time  is  to  remedy  this  defect  through 
more  perfect  means  of  dissemination,  but  it  is  too 
much  to  hope  for  a  perfectly  equal  distribution  of 
fruits,  since  the  fruit  areas  are  more  or  less  limited 
in  their  geographical  distribution,  whilst  the  fruit 
consuming  population  is  distributed  far  and  wide.. 
When  there  are  heavy  gluts  in  some  markets  and 
fruit  does  not  pay  for  the  freight,  there  are  very 
often  other  places,  a  few  hundred  miles  away,  in 
which  the  commodity  is  scarce.  The  recent  intro- 
duction of  special  fruit  and  refrigerator  cars  has 


The    Question   of  Over-production.  35 

lessened  the  difficulties  of  distribution.  But  the 
reader  should  be  reminded  that  these  appliances  are 
of  use  only  to  organizations,  or  to  those  growers  who 
have  a  large  quantity  of  product;  or,  at  any  rate,  to 
those  localities  in  which  so  much  fruit  is  grown  that 
the  community  of  interests  amounts  to  an  organi- 
zation. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  fruit  must  tend  to 
become  cheaper  rather  than  higher,  except  for  special 
kinds  and  special  markets,  but  the  cost  of  producing 
it  will  grow  less  at  the  same  time.  The  fruit-grower 
must  acquire  the  skill  to  make  his  plantations  bear  in 
the  years  of  least  heavy  crop,  and  thereby  escape,  to 
a  large  extent,  the  effects  of  over-production.  This 
can  certainly  be  done.  The  very  fact  that  there  are 
years  of  over-production  and  under-production  shows 
that  fruit-growers  have  not  yet  mastered  the  con- 
ditions which  control  their  plantations.  In  orchards, 
at  least,  there  are  more  persons  who  discover  their 
crops  of  fruit  than  there  are  who  produce  them. 
With  the  cheapening  of  the  product,  the  demand 
will  be  increased.  The  United  States  now  leads 
all  countries  in  the  extent,  variety,  excellence,  and 
abundance  of  fruits,  and  our  people  are  pronounced 
fruit -consumers :  and  this  desire  for  fruit  is  very 
rapidly  increasing.  In  particular  fruits,  as  in  grapes 
in  the  east,  the  price  seems  already  to  have  fallen 
to  the  very  lowest  point  of  profitable  production, 
and  in  these  cases  salvation  seems  to  lie  in  the 
hunting  out  of  special  markets,  in  devising  more 
secondary  means  of  disposing  of  the  product  (as  in 


36  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

manufactured  goods),  and  especially  in  improving  the 
quality  of  the  product  and  increasing  the  attractive- 
ness of  the  packing. 

It  is  a  common  practice  to  estimate  the  amount 
of  fruit  which  will  be  produced  at  any  given  time  in 
the  future  by  multiplying  the  number  of  acres  of 
plantation  by  the  yield  of  a  normal  acre  of  that  kind 
of  fruit.  The  fallacy  in  these  calculations  lies  in  the 
fact  that  very  many  of  the  orchards  which  are 
planted  in  hope  and  expectation  yield  only  bugs  and 
fungi.  It  is  probably  not  too  much  to  say  that  fully 
half  of  the  fruit  plantations  which  have  been  set  in 
the  past  fail  to  produce  any  crop  for  the  market. 
There  are  numbers  of  people  who  devote  their  entire 
energies  to  copying  their  neighbors  ;  but  having  no 
original  grasp  of  the  subject,  they  are  likely  to 
achieve  only  a  haphazard  success. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    LOCATION   AND    ITS    CLIMATE. 

IT  is  apparent  that  any  advice  respecting  the 
proper  place  for  engaging  in  fruit-growing  must  be 
of  the  most  general  nature,  since  the  species  of 
fruits  are  so  numerous,  and  the  elements  which  enter 
into  a  choice  of  location  and  soil  are  so  various  and 
indefinable.  Yet  there  are  certain  considerations 
which  are  approximately  fundamental,  and  to  which 
the  reader  may  profitably  give  heed.  These  may  be 
found  to  be  suggestive  in  improving  one's  practice 
upon  his  established  plantation,  as  well  as  useful  in 
aiding  him  in  the  choice  of  location  and  land. 

THE     PLACE. 

The  choice  of  the  place  in  which  to  grow  fruit, 
leaving  aside  the  element  of  soil,*  is  determined  by 
the  location  and  the  site.  The  location  is  the  po- 
sition of  the  place  as  fixed  by  the  map  or  the  sur- 
veyor. It  is  in  such  atid  such  a  township,  and  lies 
along  such  and  such  a  highway.  It  is  a  matter  of 

*The  problems  comprised  in  the  selection  of  the  proper  soil  must  be  de- 
termined for  each  particular  fruit.  They  are,  therefore,  special  questions,  and 
must  be  treated  in  the  books  to  be  given  to  the  different  fruits,  and  not  in  a 
general  work  upon  fruit-growing. 

(37) 


38  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

local  geography ;  it  may  lie  in  any  one  of  a  thou- 
sand places  in  the  general  fruit  zones  which  were 
outlined  in  the  last  chapter.  The  site  is  the  partic- 
ular or  actual  place,  in  the  location  or  upon  the 
farm,  upon  which  the  plantation  is  set.  It  comprises 
the  aspect  as  to  whether  the  exposure  is  towards  the 
north  or  the  south,  and  the  consideration  of  the 
minor  elevations  and  other  topographical  features  of 
the  place.  To  proceed,  then,  from  the  general  to  the 
specific,  we  may  say  that  a  certain  fruit  plantation 
is  located  at  Willow  Creek,  in  New  York,  and  that 
it  has  a  high  site,  with  a  sharp  eastward  exposure. 

In  the  choice  of  a  location  with  reference  to  its 
geographical  position,  there  are  two  chief  elements 
to  be  considered,  the  choice  with  reference  to  market 
and  that  with  reference  to  frosts  ;  and  to  these  we 
may  now  proceed. 

Location  with  reference  to  market. —  Time  has  over- 
come distance.  Market  facilities  are,  therefore,  de- 
termined more  by  transportation  facilities  than  by 
nearness  to  the  market  itself.  To  have  the  choice 
of  two  or  more  means  of  shipping  —  as  by  rail  or 
water,  or  by  more  than  one  railroad  — is  a  most 
desirable  feature  in  the  location  of  any  fruit  farm. 
This  is  not  only  because  competitive  rates  may  be 
secured,  but  also  because  more  and  various  markets 
may  be  reached.  The  choicer  the  fruits  and  the 
greater  the  desire  to  reach  personal  markets,  the 
more  should  the  grower  prize  any  means  which  shall 
enable  him  to  reach  a  number  of  markets.  Such  a 
grower  will  desire  to  locate  within  easy  reach  of  a 


The   Market  Factor.  39 

number  of  cities  or  large  towns.  He  will  not  care, 
perhaps,  to  grow  what  may  be  called  the  staple  va- 
rieties, leaving  that  effort  to  those  persons  who  are 
farther  removed  from  points  of  consumption.  It 
would  seem  to  be  unwise,  therefore,  for  the  fruit- 
grower who  has  access  to  several  or  many  unlike 
markets  to  attempt  to  copy  the  methods  of  those  in 
the  west  or  south,  who  must  grow  largely  of  one 
thing  and  grow  that  in  sufficient  quantity  to  com- 
mand concessions  from  transporters  and  salesmen. 
Fruit-growing  can  never  be  reduced  to  a  dead  level 
of  ideals  and  practice.  In  one  place  great  speciali- 
zation may  be  most  profitable,  but  in  another  place 
generalization  —  the  extensive  growing  of  general- 
purpose  varieties  —  may  be  best. 

Location  with  reference  to  frosts.— In  the  last 
chapter,  the  general  influence  of  cold  and  heat  in 
determining  the  fruit  zones  was  discussed.  At  that 
place,  the  subject  was  the  average  annual  tempera- 
ture. But  within  these  various  zones  there  are  end- 
less minor  variations  in  physiographical  features  which 
have  a  direct  influence  in  determining  the  areas  of 
the  incidental  frosts  of  late  spring  and  early  fall. 
The  reader  must  clearly  distinguish  between  frosts 
and  freezes.  Frosts  occur  on  still,  clear  nights,  and 
are  more  or  less  local ;  freezes  are  usually  accom- 
paniments of  storms,  often  of  high  winds,  and  are 
general  or  even  continental  in  range,  and  their 
courses  are  not  marked  by  the  whiteness  of  frost. 
.  It  was  a  freeze,  and  not  a  frost,  which  swept  over 
Florida  in  the  winter  of  1894-5,  and  over  the  north- 


40  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

eastern  states  in  May,  1895;*  and  most  of  the 
serious  disasters  of  untimely  cold  are  of  this  kind. 
These  freezes  are  mostly  beyond  the  reach  of  man. 
He  can  only  move  beyond  their  limits.  But  injuri- 
ous frosts  may  not  only  be  avoided,  in  many  cases, 
by  the  selection  of  the  location  or  even  of  the  site, 
but  they  may  sometimes  be  prevented  upon  the  very 
night  when  they  are  expected. 

The  chief  local  determinant  of  immunity  from 
frost  is  proximity  to  bodies  of  water.  These  bodies 
act  as  equalizers  of  temperature.  The  water  holds 
latent  heat,  and  it  does  not  respond  quickly  to  the 
atmospheric  fluctuations.  It  is,  therefore,  cooler  in 
summer  and  warmer  in  winter  than  the  adjacent 
land  is.  The  larger  and  deeper  the  body  of  water, 
the  greater  is  this  equalizing  effect  upon  the  tem- 
perature of  the  shores.  As  between  the  two,  great 
depth  is  more  important  than  great  expanse  of  sur- 
face. Lakes  which  are  only  a  mile  or  two  wide  may 
exert  a  very  profound  influence  over  the  adjacent 

*  In  order  to  show  the  natural  history  of  one  of  these  wide-area  freezes, 
the  following  account  is  given  (by  E.  T.  Turner,  Meteorologist  of  the  Weather 
Bureau  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  Xew  York)  concern- 
ing; causes  which  led  to  the  disastrous  cold  snap  of  May  13,  1895,  in  New 
York  state: 

"  For  about  a  week  preceding  the  12th,  the  temperature  had  been  very  high, 
from  80  to  85  degrees  in  the  daytime  and  from  50  to  60  degrees  at  night.  The 
temperature  of  the  soil  must,  therefore,  have  been  considerably  higher  than 
usual  at  that  time  of  the  year.  The  conditions  which  produced  the  freeze 
were  very  general  rather  than  local.  About  the  9th,  the  pressure  increased  and 
the  temperature  fell  over  the  western  and  central  parts  of  the  continent. 
Early  on  the  llth  a  large  low-pressure  or  storm  area  passed  eastward  over 
Canada,  southerly  winds  flowing  into  it,  giving  the  high  temperature  observed 
here  at  noon  of  the  llth.  But  after  the  storm  center  passed  further  to  the  . 
eastward  we  were  subject  to  the  cold  westerly  winds  which  flowed  into  the 
depression  from  the  cold  high-pressure  area  in  the  west,  and  which  continued 


Influence   of  Bodies   of   Water.  41 

laud  if  they  are  very  deep.  This  is  admirably  illus- 
trated in  the  slender  lakes  of  central  New  York, 
about  which  the  fruit-growing  has  disposed  itself. 
The  distance  to  which  the  ameliorating  influence  of 
the  water  may  extend  is  determined  very  largely  by 
the  conformation  of  the  shore  lands.  As  a  rule,  there 
are  distinct  slopes  towards  the  water,  and  it  is  rare 
that  the  effect  of  the  water  upon  the  temperature 
extends  beyond  the  crest  of  the  elevation.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  when  the  elevation  is  three  hundred 
feet  or  more  high,  the  region  of  immunity  from  frost 
ordinarily  does  not  extend  more  than  two -thirds  of 
the  distance  to  the  summit.  Along  the  central  New 
York  lakes,  the  area  of  the  tender  fruits,  like  grapes, 
does  not  reach  more  than  half  a  mile,  and  at  the 
utmost  a  mile,  from  the  water.  The  famous  Chau- 
tauqua  grape -belt  is  confined  to  a  strip  about  two 
to  three  miles  wide  lying  upon  Lake  Erie,  and  reach- 
ing an  elevation  at  its  landward  margin  of  less  than 

also  during  the  13th,  as  the  storm  center  lingered  over  the  northeastern  coast. 
The  fall  of  temperature  at  this  Station  from  noon  of  the  llth  to  the  12th  was 
40  degrees,  and  by  the  13th,  50  degrees. 

"This  cold  wave  appears  to  have  differed  from  ordinary  frosts  in  the  follow- 
ing particulars  :  Frosts  commonly  occur  on  clear,  calm  nights,  when  the  cold 
air  siuks  to  the  valley  bottoms  ;  but  in  this  case  the  weather  was  cloudy  or 
partly  cloudy,  and  strong  westerly  winds  prevailed.  The  valleys,  being  pro- 
tected from  the  wind,  lost  less  of  tho  soil  warmth  stored  up  during  the  pre- 
ceding week  than  the  higher  and  more  exposed  localities,  which  suffered  most. 
The  temperature  fell  to  32  degrees  or  below  over  northern  and  central  New 
York  generally  on  the  llth,  12th  and  13th,  and  probably  we  were  saved  from 
disastrous  frost  in  the  valleys  and  sheltered  localities  only  by  the  warmth  of 
the  soil. 

"I  may  add  that  the  high-pressure  area  in  the  central  states  brought  severe 
killing  frosts  near  Lake  Michigan  and  the  central  valleys  on  the  9th  and  10th. 
With  us  there  was  the  added  feature  of  the  high  winds,  due  to  the  storm  area 
as  described.  " 


42  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

two  hundred  feet.*  Along  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan,  the  peach  area  extends  all  the  way  from 
one  or  two  miles  to  fifteen  or  twenty,  depending 
upon  the  conformation  of  the  surface.  Along  the 
lower  Hudson  River  the  area  of  the  tender  fruits 
does  not  depart,  as  a  rule,  more  than  a  mile  from  the 
stream.  In  very  gradual  slopes,  the  ameliorating  in- 
fluence of  the  water  usually  extends  farther,  but  it  is 
apt  to  be  less  marked  than  upon  the  lower  parts  of 
abrupt  slopes.  In  all  these  cases,  the  limit  of  the 
boundary  of  the  area  is  determined  by  two  factors,— 
the  distance  from  the  water,  and  the  elevation  above  it. 
Tarr,  after  studying  the  local  geography  of  the 
Chautauqua  grape  country,  makes  the  following  ob- 
servations upon  the  ameliorating  influence  of  Lake 
Erie,  and  the  remarks  will  apply  to  most  other 
bodies  of  water:  "The  lake  is  a  great  modifier  of 
climate.  In  the  spring,  by  reason  of  the  low 
temperature  of  its  waters,  it  holds  back  the  vege- 
tation, and  this  tends  to  keep  it  behind  the  ordinary 
frosts.  Its  very  presence  checks  frosts  by  moderating 
the  temperature  of  the  neighboring  air.  In  the 
summer,  the  water  tends  to  cool  the  air  of  the  day 
and  to  keep  the  nocturnal  temperature  fairly  high. 
During  the  fall,  the  water  has  been  warmed  by  the 
summer  sun,  and  the  influence  of  this  warm  body 
of  water  lengthens  the  growing  season  and  tends  to 
keep  off  the  early  autumn  frosts.  There  are  many 
other  influences,  but  nothing  of  importance  can  be 

*  For  a  detailed  account  of  the  physiography  of  this  region,  see  R.  S.  Tarr, 
Bull.  109,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


Retardation   of  Bloom.  43 

stated,  excepting  on  the  basis  of  a  careful  study 
extending  over  several  years.  The  lake  breeze  of 
the  day  must  moderate  the  daytime  temperature; 
and  the  land  breeze  of  the  night  may,  in  some 
cases,  so  keep  the  air  in  motion  as  to  prevent 
frosts.  That  there  is  a  marked  influence  upon  cli- 
mate as  a  result  of  the  peculiar  conditions  of 
topography  and  neighborhood  of  water,  is  evident  at 
the  very  first.  Sketch  maps  show  that  the  mean 
annual  rainfall  is  greater  on  the  escarpment  than  on 
the  lake  plain,  and  that  the  mean  annual  tempera- 
ture of  the  hills  is  lower  than  that  near  the  lake." 

The  particular  influence  which  the  water  exerts 
over  frost  injury  in  spring  is  often  due  more  to  the 
retardation  of  the  period  of  bloom  than  to  the  actual 
prevention  of  frost,  although  its  influence  in  the 
latter  direction  is  important.  The  lands  adjacent  to 
the  water  ordinarily  warm  up  later  in  spring,  and 
the  trees  are  not  likely,  therefore,  to  swell  their  buds 
until  danger  of  serious  frosts  is  past.  The  amount 
of  this  retardation  of  bloom  is  often  as  great  as 
ten  to  twenty  days  within  a  stretch  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  from  a  large  body  of  water.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  danger  from  frosts  is  greatest  in 
mild  climates,  in  which  "warm  spells"  are  likely  to 
occur  in  late  winter  or  early  spring.  In  the  central 
and  southern  states,  this  frost  injury  following  a 
period  of  warm  weather  is  commoner  than  true 
winter-killing,  whilst  in  the  northernmost  states  and 
Canada  serious  injury  to  the  trees  from  late  spring 
frosts  is  comparatively  infrequent.  In  the  northern 


44  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

states,  also,  the  plant  goes  into  the  winter  in  a 
perfectly  dormant  and  ripened  condition,  and  is 
thereby  able  to  withstand  great  cold.  It  has  been 
said  that  injury  from  cold  is  more  frequent  in 
the  Gulf  states  than  in  New  York. 

The  elevation  of  any  place  also  stands  in  close 
relation  to  the  frostiness  of  it.  Perfectly  flat  lands 
are  nearly  always  frosty,  because  there  is  no  atmos- 
pheric drainage,  a  subject  to  which  we  shall  soon 
recur.  On  the  other  hand,  very  high  lands  are  also 
frosty,  because  the  air  is  drier  and  rarer,  and  there- 
fore allows  of  rapid  radiation  of  heat  from  the 
land;  and  they  are  exposed  to  cold,  unbroken  winds. 
The  local  altitude  to  which  the  fruit  lands  may  be 
carried  can  be  determined  only  by  actual  experiment; 
but  in  the  north  the  best  elevations  for  the  ten- 
der fruits  are  usually  between  100  and  300  feet 
above  the  local  rivers  or  lakes. 

Whilst  it  is  extremely  important  that  the  loca- 
tion for  the  growing  of  tender  or  early-blooming 
fruit  should  be  selected  with  reference  to  its  im- 
munity from  disastrous  winter  temperatures  and  un- 
timely frosts,  it  should  also  be  said  that  climate  is 
often  held  responsible  for  failures  which  are  charge- 
able to  ignorance  or  neglect.  This  is  particularly 
well  illustrated  in  the  perishing  peach -growing  of 
some  parts  of  the  north.  It  is  a  common  complaint 
that  peaches  cannot  be  grown  so  easily  as  formerly. 
The  writer  has  investigated  this  matter  upon  the 
eastern  shore  of  Cayuga  Lake,  in  central  New  York,* 

*Bull.  74,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


Decline   of  Peach -growing.  45 

a  region  which  may  be  considered  to  be  typical  of 
the  complaint  that  peaches  are  now  particularly  diffi- 
cult to  raise.  "There  are  many  theories  to  account 
for  this  failure.  Oftenest,  perhaps,  it  is  attributed  to 
change  of  climate,  but  we  have  no  proof  that  any 
considerable  climatic  change  has  occurred,  while  it 
seems  to  be  true  that  the  northern  peach  frontier  is 
holding  its  own,  or  is  even  advancing.  In  New  York 
the  failure  is  often  attributed  to  yellows,  that  disease 
which  seems  to  exist  as  a  vague  and  indefinable 
alarm  in  the  minds  of  the  general  agricultural  popu- 
lation. Yellows  and  increasingly  rigorous  climate  are 
said  to  have  wiped  out  the  peach  growing  of  the 
Cayuga  belt.  Twenty  years  ago  a  million  peach 
trees,  it  is  said,  could  be  seen  upon  the  eastern  shore 
from  one  point  upon  the  west  side,  but  now  there 
are  only  a  few  scattered  orchards.  Here,  then,  may 
be  found  the  secret  of  this  strange  falling  off  of  the 
peach  trees  in  all  parts  of  the  country  in  these  recent 
years. 

"Slanting  towards  the  lake  and  pouring  into  it 
their  drainage  of  water  and  cold  air,  laterally  drained 
by  deep  ravines  and  protected  from  sweeping  winds 
by  lines  of  wood,  these  Cayuga  lands  seem  to  be  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  the  peach.  But  the  region  had 
never  been  a  peach  belt,  in  the  sense  in  which  that 
term  will  apply  to  the  best  part  of  the  Niagara  dis- 
trict, or  to  the  Lake  Michigan  belt,  or  the  areas  in 
more  southern  states.  In  other  words,  peaches  had 
never  been  a  leading  industry  there,  but  the  orchards 
had  been  planted  here  and  there  near  the  lake  as  a 


46  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

very  minor  appendage  to  the  general  farming.  For  a 
generation  or  two  of  trees  the  insect  pests  were  not 
common.  There  were  no  good  markets,  and  the  fruit 
sold  as  low  as  twenty -five  cents  a  bushel  from  the 
wagon -box.  In  fact,  it  was  grown  more  for  the 
home  supply  than  with  an  idea  of  shipping  it  to 
market.  Under  such  conditions,  it  did  not  matter  if 
half  the  crop  was  wormy,  or  if  many  trees  failed  and 
died  each  year.  Such  facts  often  passed  almost  un- 
noticed. The  trees  bore  well,  to  be  sure,  but  the 
crop  was  not  measured  up  in  baskets  and  accounted 
for  in  dollars  and  cents,  and  under  such  conditions 
only  the  most  productive  trees  left  their  impress  upon 
the  memory.  The  soils  had  not  undergone  such  a 
long  system  of  robbery  then  as  now.  When  the  old 
orchards  wore  out,  there  was  no  particular  incentive 
to  plant  more,  for  there  was  little  money  in  them. 
Often  the  young  and  energetic  men  had  gone  west, 
there  to  repeat  the  history,  perhaps,  and  the  old 
people  did  not  care  to  set  orchards.  And  upon  this 
contracting  area,  all  the  borers  and  other  pests  which 
had  been  bred  in  the  many  old  orchards  now  concen- 
trated their  energies,  until  they  have  left  scarcely 
enough  trees  in  some  localities  upon  which  to  perpet- 
uate their  kind.  A  new  country  or  a  new  industry  is 
generally  free  of  serious  attacks  of  those  insects 
which  follow  the  crop  in  older  communities.  But  the 
foes  come  in  unnoticed  and  for  a  time  spread  unmo- 
lested, when  finally,  perhaps  almost  suddenly,  their 
number  becomes  so  great  that  they  threaten  destruc- 
tion, and  the  farmer  looks  on  in  amazement. 


Why   Peach    Orchards   Fail.  47 

"The  cause  of  the  failure  of  these  early  orchards, 
therefore,  is  the  gradual  dying  out  of  the  old  system 
of  agriculture  and  the  coming  in  of  special  indus- 
tries. The  methods  followed  with  success  a  gene- 
ration and  more  ago  are  not  profitable  in  the 
sharper  competitions  of  the  present  time.  At  least, 
there  is  not  the  smallest  evidence  that  there  is  any 
unusual  or  insurmountable  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
peach  growing  in  this  once  famous  Cayuga  region. 
The  climate  may  be  somewhat  more  bleak,  but  this 
difficulty  may  be  lessened  by  the  planting  of  shelter- 
belts;  and  there  are  enough  protected  places  in  which 
winds  are  not  unusually  severe.  What  yellows  exists 
seems  to  have  come  in  very  recently.  Good  culti- 
vation and  attention  to  borers,  and  the  other  diffi- 
culties to  which  peaches  are  everywhere  subject,  will 
enable  the  people  in  that  region  to  grow  better 
orchards  than  were  grown  there  in  former  times. 
This  statement  is  proved  by  the  partial  success 
which  is  even  now  attending  those  parts  of  the  seven 
remaining  orchards  which  are  receiving  as  much  as 
indifferent  care." 

Winds  and  air -currents  in  relation  to  fruit-grow- 
ing.— It  is  necessary  that  more  specific  attention  be 
given  to  the  subject  of  winds  and  currents  of  air, 
an  inquiry  which  is  suggested  by  the  preceding  re- 
marks. There  are  the  most  various  and  contra- 
dictory opinions  amongst  fruit-growers  as  to  the 
influence  of  winds  upon  fruit  plantations.  It  is 
commonly  admitted  that  high  or  rolling  lands  are 
best  suited  to  most  fruits,  and  many  growers  sup- 


48  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

pose  that  the  reason  of  it  is  that  winds  there  find 
free  course.  The  truth  is,  however,  that  several 
features  conspire  to  render  these  lands  congenial  to 
fruits.  Some  of  these  characteristics  are  the  follow- 
ing :  Good  atmospheric  drainage ;  the  avoidance  of 
still  air  in  frosty  weather  ;  good  water  drainage  ; 
earliness  or  lateness,  according  as  they  are  southward 
or  northward  exposures.  High  or  strong  winds  are 
always  to  be  avoided,  if  possible,  for  they  blow  off 
the  fruit  and  injure  the  plants. 

As  a  rule,  winds  are  beneficial  to  fruit  planta- 
tions only  when  they  bring  warmer  air,  or  when 
they  keep  the  air  in  motion  in  frosty  weather.  If, 
therefore,  high  lauds  could  be  protected  from  winds 
without  endangering  atmospheric  drainage  or  expos- 
ing the  plantation  to  frost,  much  should  be  gained. 

In  dry  regions  there  is  a  special  reason  for  de- 
siring to  abate  the  winds,  from  the*  fact  that  they 
abstract  so  much  moisture  from  soil  and  plants. 
Even  a  slight  impediment  in  the  path  of  the  wind 
may  give  marked  results  in  the  conservation  of 
moisture.  Upon  this  point,  King*  writes  as  follows: 

"In  arid  or  semi-arid  countries,  and  in  districts 
where  the  soil  is  light  and  leachy,  but  especially 
where  there  are  large  tracts  of  land  w^hose  inco- 
herent soils  suffer  from  the  drifting  action  of  winds, 
it  is  important  that  the  velocity  of  the  winds  near 
the  ground  should  be  reduced  to  the  minimum. 
We  have  in  Wisconsin  extensive  areas  of  light  lands 
which  are  now  being  developed  for  purposes  of 

'The  Soil,  204. 


Land    Covers   to    Conserve   Moisture.  49 

potato  culture;  but  while  these  lands  are  giving  fair 
yields  of  potatoes  of  good  quality,  they  are  in  many 
places  suffering  great  injury  from  the  destructive 
effects  of  winds.  On  these  lands,  wherever  broad, 
open  fields  lie  unprotected  by  wind-breaks  of  any 
sort,  the  clearing  west  and  northwest  winds  after 
storms  often  sweep  entirely  away  crops  of  grain  after 
they  are  4  inches  high,  uncovering  the  roots  by  the 
removal  of  from  1  to  3  inches  of  the  surface  soil. 
It  has  been  observed,  however,  that  such  slight  bar- 
riers as  fences  and  even  fields  of  grass  afford  a 
marked  protection  against  drifting  for  several  hun- 
dred feet  to  the  leeward  of  them. 

"In  the  case  of  groves,  hedge-rows  and  fields  of 
grass,  their  protection  results  partly  through  their 
tendency  to  render  the  air  which  passes  across  them 
cooler  and  more  moist,  and  partly  by  diminishing 
the  surface  velocity  of  the  wind.  The  writer  has 
observed  that  when  the  rate  of  evaporation  at  20, 
40  and  60  feet  to  the  leeward  of  a  grove  of  black 
oak  15  to  20  feet  high  was  11.5  cc.,  11.6  cc.,  and 
11.9  cc.,  respectively,  from  a  wet  surface  of  27 
square  inches,  it  was  14.5,  14.2  and  14.7  at  280, 
300  and  320  feet  distance,  or  24  per  cent  greater 
at  the  three  outer  stations  than  at  the  nearer  ones. 
So,  too,  a  scanty  hedge -row  produced  observed  dif- 
ferences in  the  rate  of  evaporation,  as  follows,  dur- 
ing an  interval  of  one  hour: 

"At    20  feet  from  the  hedgerow  the  evaporation  was  10.3  cc. 
"   150    "         "       "  "  "  "  "     12.5  " 

"  300     "         "       "  "  "  "  "     13.4  " 

E 


50  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

"Here  the  drying  effect  of  the  wind  at  300  feet 
was  30  per  cent  greater  than  at  20  feet,  and  7  per- 
cent greater  than  at  150  feet  from  the  hedge. 

"When  the  air  came  across  a  clover  field  780 
feet  wide,  the  observed  rates  of  evaporation  were: 


'At    20  feet  from  clover 

"  150     "       "          "       .... 
"  300     "       " 


or   40   per   cent   greater   at    300    feet    away   than    at 
20  feet,  and  7.4  per  cent  greater  than  at  150  feet. 

"The  protective  influence  of  grass  lands  and  the 
disadvantage  of  very  broad  fields  of  these  light  soils 
was  further  shown  by  the  increasingly  poorer  stand 
of  young  clover  as  the  eastern  margin  of  these 
fields  was  approached,  even  on  fields  where  the 
drifting  had  been  inappreciable.  Below  are  given 
the  number  of  clover  plants  per  equal  areas  on 
three  different  farms,  as  the  distance  to  the  east- 
ward of  grass  fields  increased: 

"No  1,  at  50  feet,  574  plants  ;  at  200  feet,  390  plants  ;  at  400  feet. 
231  plants. 

"No  2,  at  100  feet,  249  plants  ;  at  200  feet,  277  plants  ;  at  400  feet, 
193  plants  ;  at  600  feet,  189  plants  ;  at  800  feet,  138  plants  ;  at  1,000 
feet,  48  plants. 

"No.  3,  at  50  feet,  1,130  plants  ;  at  400  feet,  600  plants  ;  at  700 
feet,  543  plants. 

"In  these  cases  the  difference  in  stand  appears 
to  have  resulted  from  an  increasing  drying  action 
of  the  wind.  On  the  majority  of  fields  the  de- 
structive effects  of  the  winds  were  very  evident  to 


Uses   of  Low    Wind -breaks.  51 

the  eye,  and  augmented  as  the  distance  from  the 
wind-breaks  increased. 

"It  appears  from  these  observations,  and  from  the 
protection  against  drifting  which  is  afforded  by  grass 
fields,  hedge -rows  and  groves,  that  a  system  of  ro- 
tation should  be  followed  on  such  lands  which 
avoids  broad,  continuous  fields.  The  fields  should 
be  laid  out  in  narrow  lands,  and  alternate  ones  kept 
in  clover  and  grass.  Wind-breaks  of  suitable  trees 
must  also  have  a  beneficial  effect  when  maintained 
in  narrow  belts  along  line  fences  and  railroads,  and, 
perhaps,  wagon  roads,  in  places." 

Budd  writes*  as  follows  respecting  the  low  wind- 
breaks of  Manitoba:  "Professor  N.  E.  Hansen  and 
others  recently  made  a  trip  to  Indian  Head  and 
Brandon.  He  was  surprised  to  find  miles  of  low 
wind-break  not  over  five  or  six  feet  in  height  to  stop 
the  sweep  of  the  wind  on  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
These  low  hedges  are  made  by  planting  the  shrubby 
artemisia.  This  grows  readily  from  cuttings  stuck  in 
early  spring,  and  soon  attains  its  final  height.  It  is 
really  proving  a  blessing  in  that  land  of  winds, 
where  even  the  wheat  is  blown  out  of  the  ground 
if  the  wind  is  permitted  to  hug  the  earth's  surface. 
We  found  this  a  common  shrub  on  the  steppes  of 
central  Russia,  and  introduced  it  as  an  ornamental 
plant.  The  thought  did  not  occur  that  it  would 
become  the  most  popular  wind-break  of  the  wheat 
districts  of  Manitoba  and  Northwest  Territory." 

Atmospheric  drainage. —  The  air   is   rarely,  if   ever, 

*  Rural  Life,  1896. 


52  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

perfectly  still.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the  vagaries 
of  light  frosts,  which  touch  here  and  there  where  the 
air  is  the  stillest  or  the  radiation  most  rapid.  This 
is  particularly  true  in  the  growing  months,  when  the 
earth  becomes  very  warm  during  the  day  and  loses 
the  heat  rapidly  at  nightfall,  and  when,  also,  the 
sky  is  less  overcast  by  clouds  than  it  is  in  the  win- 
ter months.  After  studying  the  disastrous  frosts  of 
May,  1895,  in  the  Chautauqua  vineyard  district, 
Tarr  wrote*  as  follows  :  "  The  behavior  of  this  frost 
was  altogether  remarkable,  leaving  some  districts  or 
vineyards  almost  unharmed,  and  nearly  ruining  the 
crop  in  others,  while  even  in  the  same  vineyard  these 
extremes  were  sometimes  noticed.  This  was  probably 
chiefly  due  to  eddies  of  the  air,  for  even  though  air 
is  almost  quiet,  it  is  still  in  uneven  motion.  One 
may  see  this  illustrated  on  a  calm  day  by  noticing 
the  movements  of  a  column  of  smoke.  The  air,  be- 
ing invisible,  does  not  reveal  these  movements,  and 
we  become  aware  of  them  only  when  the  conditions 
are  exceptional,  as  when  a  frost  is  dealing  out  de- 
struction to  vegetation.  The  condition  of  the  ground 
also  affects  the  frost,  and  the  question  \vhether  it  is 
dry  or  moist,  freshly  plowed  or  turf  covered,  whether 
there  are  trees  or  pastures  or  plowed  ground  in  the 
neighborhood,  all  have  their  influence  ;  but  this  sub- 
ject has  never  been  properly  studied,  and  it  is  not 
possible  to  state  just  how  these  differences  affect 
frost  action." 

Much  of   this  unrecognizable  movement   of   the  air 

*Bull.  109,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.,  121. 


Air   Drainage   on   a   Hillside. 


53 


is  due  to  the  draining  off  or  settling  away  of  the 
cold  air,  which  is  densest,  and  therefore  heaviest. 
It  pours  down  the  valleys  of  hilly  and  mountainous 
countries,  and  as  its  vapor  condenses  it  gives  rise  to 
the  valley  fogs  and  clouds.  It  lies  in  the  low  places 
upon  the  farm,  and  there  may  cause  frost.  A  person 
riding  across  an  undulating  country  upon  a  still  sum- 
mer night  can  scarcely  fail  to  notice  the  chillier  air 
of  the  depressions.  This  escape  of  the  cold  air  is 
the  secret  of  much  of  the  success  of  fruit-growing 
on  rolling  and  sloping  land ;  and  this  fact  explains 


Fig.  1.    The  frosty  belt  below  a  wood  upon  a  hillside. 

the  importance  of  giving  great  attention  to  the  selec- 
tion of  the  site  and  aspect  when  setting  a  planta- 
tion of  the  tenderer  fruits. 

Features  of  such  little  apparent  importance  as 
not  to  appeal  to  the  fruit-grower  often  exert  great 
influence  upon  the  quiet  movements  of  air.  A  fre- 
quent case  is  this  :  A  strawberry  field  is  upon  a 
gentle  slope,  and  on  the  upper  side  is  a  wood.  In 
time  of  frost,  the  only  injury  occurs  in  a  belt  two 
or  three  rods  wide  just  against  the  wood,  in  the 
very  place  where  the  greatest  immunity  was  ex- 
pected. This  is  because  the  slight  bodily  movement 
of  the  air  down  the  hillside  and  over  the  forest 


54  Thf    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

strikes  obliquely  downward  from  the  edge  of  the 
wood -top,  and  leaves  a  narrrow  belt  of  dead  air 
against  the  timber  (as  at  A  in  Fig.  1,  page  53.) 

The  atmospheric  drainage  is  marked  'only  in  still 
air.  Winds  mix  up  the  air,  and  bring  it  all  to  a 
comparatively  uniform  condition.  The  slightest  ob- 
stacles may  sufficiently  retard  the  movement  to  leave 
their  impress  in  the  distribution  of  a  light  frost.  A 
rail  fence,  a  stone  wall,  a  row  of  bushes,  a  slight 
elevation  of  land,  the  earth  thrown  out  of  a  ditch, — 
all  of  these  are  obstacles  to  drainage  of  cold  air 
when  they  extend  across  a  slope.  In  some  cases, 
there  may  be  a  difference  of  ten  degrees  in  tempera- 
ture in  as  many  feet  of  elevation.  A  dense  row  of 
trees  standing  diagonally  across  a  slope  may  convey 
away  the  cold  air  which  settles  down  against  it, 
and  thereby  prevent  injury  to  plants  on  the  lower 
levels.  It  has  been  suggested  that  in  certain  hilly 
regions,  levees  a  few  feet  high  be  built  diagonally 
across  the  slopes,  with  ditches  or  moats  above  them 
to  hold  water,  the  evaporation  of  which  would  tend 
to  raise  the  dew-point. 

The  range  of  elevation  through  which  atmos- 
pheric drainage  acts  beneficially  to  the  fruit-grower 
is  limited.  A  fall  of  a  few  feet  in  a  plantation  is 
often  sufficient  for  the  very  best  protection  from 
light  frosts  ;  and  a  fall  of  one  or  two  hundred  feet 
may  be  regarded  as  the  general  maximum  through- 
out which  the  benefit  may  be  observed,  for  very 
high  elevations  are,  as  wre  have  seen,  bleaker  and 
colder  in  sum -temperature  than  comparatively  low 


Temperatures   on   Hills. 


f>f> 


Differences  

Differences  
Minnewaska  

Honeymeud  Brook  

Lyon  Mountain  
Plattsburgh  

Differences  

Italy  Hill  

South  Canisteo  

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56  The    Principles    of  Fruit -growing. 

ones  are.  That  is,  what  may  be  gained  by  atmos- 
pheric; drainage  may  be  more  than  overcome  by  the 
coldness  of  elevation.  The  table  (page  55)  from  the 
New  York  Meteorological  Bureau*,  compares  the 
monthly  average  temperatures  of  high  and  low  sta- 
tions. The  high  stations  give,  with  but  two  slight 
exceptions,  a  lower  reading  than  the  low  stations  do, 
but  the  differences  are  least,  as  a  rule,  in  the  win- 
ter months,  when  the  effects  of  atmospheric  drainage 
are  apt  to  be  least  marked. 

Thermometer  readings  taken  upon  the  slope  of 
East  Hill,  at  Ithaca,  New  York,  during  January  and 
February,  1897,  also  show  the  lower  average  tempera- 
tures of  very  high  lands. t  The  top  of  this  hill  is 
about  400  feet  above  the  valley.  Six  thermometers 
were  placed  along  its  slope,  No.  I.  being  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill,  and  No.  VI.  at  its  top.  Tempera- 
tures taken  at  night  would  probably  have  shown 
more  marked  differences.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  if  observations  were  made  at  night  in  still  wea- 
ther in  spring  or  fall,  between  the  valley  and  lands 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  above  it,  the  higher 
lands  would  have  given  the  higher  figures,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  settling  away  of  the  cold  air.  It 
is  well  known,  for  example,  that  ravines  along  a  fruit 
plantation  often  carry  away  the  cold  air  and  save 
the  fruit  from  light  frosts,  and  also  that  planta- 
tions opposite  the  mouths  of  gullies  are  likely  to 
suffer.  The  Ithaca  figures  now  follow: 

•Fifth  Ann.  Rep.  Meteor.  Bureau,  N.  Y.  388. 
tMade  for  me  by  my  student,  S.  L.  Sheldon. 


Temperatures  on  a   Hillside. 


57 


Date, 

1897. 

Hour. 

j  Ther. 
I. 

Ther. 
II. 

Ther. 
III. 

Ther. 
IV. 

Ther. 
V. 

. 

Ther. 
VI. 

Maximum, 
variation. 

Direction  of 
wind. 

Velocity  of 
wind,  miles.  | 

Jan.  22.  . 

A.   M. 

8.40 

Deg. 
28 

If 

D2f 

D2f 

°z- 

D2T 

°? 

SW 

10 

P.    M. 

1 

•    "     23.. 

12.25 

26 

24 

25 

23 

22 

23 

4 

W  i  20 

P.  M. 

"     25.. 

2.15 

10 

8 

9 

7 

6 

8 

4 

W 

30 

A.  M. 

"     27.. 

8.45 

13 

12 

13 

13 

12 

13 

1 

W 

1 

A.  M. 

Feb.    3.. 

8.20 

20 

20 

21 

20 

20 

20 

1 

NW 

5 

A.  M. 

"      4.. 

11.45 

31 

26 

28 

27 

31 

27 

5 

N 

2 

P.  M. 

"       4.. 

5.45 

25 

24 

24 

24 

25 

27 

3 

NW     2 

A.  M. 

1 

"       6.. 

9.00 

35 

35 

35 

36 

35 

33 

1 

SEJ  13 

A.  M. 

"       8.. 

8.00 

37 

33 

33 

33 

32 

33 

4 

W 

4 

A.  M. 

"       9.. 

8.00 

31 

29 

29 

28 

28 

28 

3 

W 

5 

A.  M. 

"     22.. 

8.00 

33 

31 

32 

34 

34         30 

4 

SE      2 

A.  M. 

"     23.. 

9.00 

38 

35 

35 

36 

34 

4 

SW]  12 

j 

I 

A.  M. 

"     24.. 

8.30 

25 

21 

22 

21 

22     :     21 

4 

SW     8 

A.M. 

"     26.. 

8.15    1     19 

13 

17 

14 

14 

14 

5 

W 

10 

A.  M. 

"     27.. 

8.:iO 

17 

14 

16 

14 

15 

13 

4 

W 

4 

A.  M. 

Mar.    1.. 

8.30 

16 

13 

14 

13 

16 

12 

4 

SE 

12 

Average  temp. 

IT,.  IT. 

22.81 

23.75 

23.18 

22.66 

22.56 

2.69 

1 

58  The    Principles    of  Fruit- growing . 

THE    SITE    FOR   THE    FRUIT    PLANTATION. 

As  a  rule,  especially  in  northern  countries,  the 
ideal  site  for  a  fruit  plantation  is  one  which  is 
somewhat  elevated  above  adjoining  lands.  Such  a 
site  presents  the  two  advantages  of  atmospheric  and 
soil  drainage.  Of  these  advantages,  the  atmospheric 
drainage  is  the  greater,  inasmuch  as  soil  drainage 
can  be  secured  by  artificial  means.  Cold  air,  being 
heavier  than  warm  air,  in  still  weather  settles  into 
the  lowest  areas,  as  we  have  already  seen,  often 
causing,  upon  such  lands,  serious  late  spring  and 
early  fall  frosts,  as  well  as  reducing  the  temperature 
in  winter.  In  speaking  of  elevated  lands,  it  is  not 
necessarily  meant  that  they  be  rolling.  Some  entire 
farms  which  are  almost  flat  may  be  sufficiently  ele- 
vated above  the  local  streams  or  the  general  con- 
tour of  a  flat  country  to  answer  all  purposes  of  an 
ideal  fruit  site. 

A  comparatively  slight  elevation  is  often  suffi- 
cient to  accomplish  perfect  atmospheric  drainage, 
particularly  if  the  adjacent  lower  lands  slope  suffi- 
ciently to  allow  the  cold  air  to  gradually  drain  away. 
Sometimes  a  sharp  decline  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet 
along  one  side  of  a  plantation  is  sufficient;  or,  a 
gradual  and  gentle  slope  throughout  may  be  equally 
advantageous.  More  pronounced  elevations  usually 
give  more  marked  results,  however,  and  for  this 
reason  they  are  preferred  for  the  tenderer  fruits. 

The  pronounced  minor  elevations  often  present 
other  advantages  of  temperature  than  those  incident 


Advantages   of  High    Lands.  59 

to  atmospheric  drainage.  They  offer  various  expo- 
sures, and  they  may  be  utilized  as  wind-breaks  by 
placing  the  plantations  on  the  slopes  opposite  the 
severest  winds.  If  they  are  near  large  bodies  of 
water,  they  are  usually  more  profoundly  influenced  by 
such  bodies  than  flatter  lauds,  because  more  open  to 
the  movements  of  air  from  them;  and  as  bodies  of 
water  tend  to  equalize  temperature,  to  lessen  late 
spring  and  early  fall  frosts,  it  follows  that  high  lauds 
near  lakes  and  great  rivers  are  most  desirable  for 
fruit -culture.  The  exact  amount  of  exposure  which 
the  fruit-grower  may  find  advantageous  must  be  de- 
termined for  each  individual  case  after  a  thorough 
study  of  all  the  local  conditions;  and  in  this  inves- 
tigation the  discussion  of  wind-breaks,  beginning  on 
page  62,  may  be  suggestive. 

Despite  all  these  remarks,  there  are  certain  cases 
in  which  comparatively  low  lands  are  preferable  for 
fruit -raising,  but  this  is  because  such  lands  are 
moister,  richer,  leveler,  or  more  sheltered,  rather  than 
because  they  are  lower  than  surrounding  areas ;,  for 
all  these  advantages  may  sometimes  be  secured  on 
comparatively  elevated  lands,  and  atmospheric  drain- 
age be  secured  in  the  bargain.  Strawberries  are 
grown  on  lower  lands  largely  because  such  lands  are 
moist  and  level.  Quinces  and  blackberries  demand  a 
moister  land  than  is  usually  found  upon  pronounced 
slopes.  In  any  event,  however,  the  grower  should 
avoid  flat  lands  which  are  hemmed  in  on  all  sides 
by  elevations,  for  these  "pockets"  are  nearly  always 
frosty. 


60  The    Principles    of  Fruit -growing. 

The  aspect. — The  aspect  or  exposure  of  a  fruit 
plantation  is  determined  by  the  direction  and  extent 
of  the  slope  of  the  land.  The  exposure  exerts 
great  influence  upon  the  temperature  of  the  soil  and 
upon  the  force  of  the  winds,  and  it  therefore  be- 
comes an  emphatic  problem  in  the  location  of  a 
fruit  plantation,  especially  when  the  tender  and  early- 
blooming  fruits  are  under  consideration.  There  is 
the  greatest  diversity  of  opinion  respecting  the 
proper  exposure  for  fruits,  some  growers  contending 
that  the  northward  slope  is  always  the  best,  and 
others  preferring  a  southward  exposure.  The  truth 
is  that  no  one  exposure  is  best  in  all  cases.  Much 
depends  upon  the  location  and  the  particular  en- 
vironment of  the  plantation,  and  upon  the  kind  of 
fruit  which  it  is  proposed  to  grow.  The  subject 
may  be  elucidated  by  discussing  it  under  three 
generalizations : 

1.  In  locations  adjoining  bodies  of  water,  the 
best  slope  is  towards  the  water.  The  very  reason 
for  the  location  of  fruit  farms  in  such  places  is 
that  the  ameliorating  effects  of  the  water  may  be 
secured,  and  these  effects  are  most  marked  when 
the  fruit  land  slopes  directly  towards  the  river  or 
the  lake.  In  all  these  cases,  therefore,  the  par- 
ticular direction  of  the  slope  in  respect  to  the 
points  of  the  compass  is  of  a  very  secondary  im- 
portance. There  is  often  great  choice  between  the 
two  sides  of  a  river  or  small  lake,  particularly 
when  the  slopes  are  sharp  and  high.  That  side 
which  faces  away  from  strong  prevailing  winds  is 


The    Choice   of  the   Exposure.  61 

generally  preferable,  particularly  if  the  elevation  back 
of  it  is  sufficient  to  act  as  a  wind-break. 

2.  In    interior    or    frosty  regions,  the   best    slope 
for   the  tender   and   early -blooming   fruits,  as  a  rule, 
is    one   which    retards    the   blooming    period,  thereby 
causing    the   plant    to   remain    comparatively  dormant 
until    after    the   incidental    spring  frosts   are   passed. 
In   such    places,  therefore,  the    northward    and   west- 
ward   slopes    are    generally  most   advisable;    although 
if    these   slopes   are   too   pronounced,  they  may  be   so 
very  cold   and   backward  that  what  is   gained   by  the 
retardation   in   spring  may  be  lost   by  the  retardation 
in   fall,  and    the   fruits   may  fail    to   ripen    properly, 
or  be  caught  by  early  fall  frosts.     In  wholly  interior 
places,  a    somewhat    pronounced    northward   exposure 
is   usually  preferable   for    peaches    and   apricots,  since 
these   fruits   are   likely  to   swell    their   buds   with   the 
first  fitful  warmth  of  spring 

3.  If   one   desires   to   secure   particularly  early  re- 
sults and  bright  colors  of  fruits,  a  warm  and  sunny 
epxosure,  to  the  southward  or  southeastward,  is  most 
advisable.       This    is   a    matter    of    considerable    mo- 
ment  with   the   finer   dessert    varieties  of   fruits. 

It  is  sometimes  necessary,  also,  to  study  the  ex- 
posure with  reference  to  prevailing  winds,  when 
these  winds  are  more  or  less  constant  and  strong. 
The  selection  of  the  aspect  may,  in  a  large  meas- 
ure, obviate  the  necessity  of  establishing  elaborate 
wind-breaks.  The  contour  of  the  land  should  always 
be  carefully  considered  when  the  planting  of  shelter 
belts  is  under  advisement. 


62  The    Principles    of    Fruit -growing. 

WIND -BREAKS  FOR  FRUIT  PLANTATIONS.* 

We  are  now  able  to  approach  the  troubled  sub- 
ject of  wind-breaks  in  an  analytic  spirit.  Although 
the  best  writers  upon  horticultural  topics  are  nearly 
unanimous  in  recommending  wind-breaks  for  all  fruit 
plantations,  there  is,  nevertheless,  wide  difference  in 
opinion  and  practice  among  good  cultivators  con- 
cerning them.  Fruit-growers,  as  a  rule,  hold  decided 
opinions  concerning  wind-breaks.  In  fact,  they  usu- 
ally hold  extreme  opinions,  either  wholly  opposing 
shelter  belts  in  all  cases,  or  positively  advocating 
them.  All  who  are  engaged  in  the  growing  of 
fruits  or  who  attend  fruit-growers'  gatherings,  have 
heard  the  most  positive  experiences  cited  in  support 
of  both  opinions.  There  must  be  good  reasons  for 
these  opposing  views.  There  appear  to  be  no  well- 
grounded  maxims  or  precepts  among  growers  them- 
selves, and  statements  concerning  the  merits  of 
shelter  belts  are  commonly  vague.  In  order  to  arrive 
at  the  best  current  opinion  upon  the  subject,  many 
inquiries  have  been  made  and  fruit  farms  have  been 
visited.  Three  hundred  circulars  were  addressed  to 
leading  fruit-growers  in  New  York  and  Michigan, 
asking  for  definite  information  in  regard  to  wind- 
breaks. Seventy -seven  replies  were  obtained.  This 
is  a  large  proportion,  and  the  number  may  be  as- 
sumed to  include  all  the  persons  of  the  three  hun- 

*This  discussion  is  founded  upon  the  author's  "Study  of  Wind-breaks  in 
Their  Relations  to  Fruit-growing,"  Bull.  IX.,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.  (1889);  also 
"Wind-breaks  for  the  Fruit-grower,"  Proc.  Mich.  Forestry  Conv.,  held  at 
Grand  Rapids,  Jan.  26  and  27,  1888. 


Benefits  from    Wind-breaks.  63 

dred  addressed  who  have  had  experience,  or  have 
made  direct  observation.  Forty -eight  of  these  replies 
relate  definite  results.  It  is  probable  that  nearly  the 
whole  range  of  experience  with  wind-breaks  in 
reference  to  fruit -culture  in  the  northeastern  states 
is  represented  in  these  letters.  Two  general  cate- 
gories may  be  made, —  those  favoring  the  use  of 
wind-breaks  for  fruit  plantations,  and  those  op- 
posing them.  Each  of  these  categories  may  be  again 
divided  into  replies  relating  definite  experience,  and 
those  detailing  only  general  observation  or  opinion. 

An  epitome  of  the  benefits  reported  in  the  ta- 
bles on  pages  64-68  may  be  made  as  follows  (stated 
somewhat  in  order  of  importance) : 

1.  A    wind-break    may    protect    from  cold. 

2.  Reduces    evaporation    from   the    surface  of    the 
soil,    tending     to    mitigate    drought    in    summer    and 
root   injury  in  winter. 

3.  Lessens  windfalls. 

4.  Lessens  breaking  of  trees  laden  with  fruit  or  ice. 

5.  Retains  snow  and   leaves,  thus  tending   to  pre- 
vent deep  freezing  and  excessive  evaporation. 

6.  Facilitates  labor  in  the  fruit  plantation. 

7.  Protects  blossoms  from  severe  winds. 

8.  Enables  trees  to  grow  straighter. 

9.  Reduces     injury    from    the    drying     of      small 
fruits  on  the  plants. 

10.  Holds  the  sand  in  certain  sections. 

11.  Sometimes  causes  fruits  to  ripen  earlier. 

12.  Encourages  birds. 

13.  It  can  be  made  an  ornament. 


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Injuries  from    Wind-breaks.  71 

Epitome  of  injuries  from  wind-breaks  (pp.  69,  70)  : 

1.  A  wind-break  may  render  a    plantation    colder 
at  certain  times. 

2.  Fruit  immediately  adjoining  the  wind-break    is 
apt  to  be  much  injured   by  insects  and  diseases,  and 
to  be  small  and  inferior  in  color. 

3.  Trees     immediately   adjoining    the     wind-break 
are  often  less  thrifty  than  others. 

4.  There  may  be   greater  damage  from   late  spring 
frosts  in  sheltered  plantations. 

Statements  of  authors. — In  connection  with  the 
foregoing  reports,  it  will  be  well  to  review  the 
statements  of  various  writers  respecting  the  use  of 
wind-breaks: 

It  [the  fruit  garden]  should  be  screened  on  the  north  and  the 
east,  either  by  high  walls  and  fences,  or,  what  is  far  better,  either 
by  hills  or  a  deep  and  dense  border  of  evergreen  or  other  forest 
trees,  intermixed  with  fruit  trees  and  shrubs  of  ornament. — Ken- 
rick,  New  American  Orchardist,  IX.  (1832). 

As  our  native  forests  become  cleared  away  the  climate  is 
changed  and  becomes  more  harsh  ;  hence  it  is  found  desirable 
to  construct  some  kind  of  protection  from  the  point  of  most 
destructive  harsh  winds  and  storms.  Belts  of  trees,  either  ever- 
green or  deciduous,  or  both  mixed,  and  surrounding  or  placed  so 
as  to  screen  from  the  northeast,  north  and  northwest,  are  con- 
sidered highly  advantageous. — Downing,  Fruits  and  Fruit  Trees  of 
America,  54. 

The  atmospheric  changes  and  conditions  we  cannot  control, 
and  we  can  modify  them  only  in  a  very  limited  degree,  by 
hedges,  by  timber  belts,  and  by  evergreen  screens,  the  value  of 
which  begins  to  be  appreciated. —  Warder,  American  Pomology, 
207. 


72  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

In  localities  exposed  to  the  sweep  of  winter  winds,  belts  of 
evergreen  or  deciduous  trees  will  be  found  of  great  service.  In 
all  instances  where  the  side  of  an  orchard  exposed  to  the  pre- 
vailing winds  is  less  successful  and  productive  than  the  opposite 
side,  proof  is  afforded  that  shelter  would  be  beneficial  ;  belts, 
especially  if  of  deciduous  trees,  standing  too  near  fruit  trees,  have, 
however,  rather  injured  than  benefited  them.  The  orchard  should 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  their  shade  and  roots,  and  be  well  ex- 
posed to  sun  and  air. — Thomas,  Fruit  Culturist,  new  ed.,  48. 

If  possible,  a  situation  should  be  chosen  where  some  natural 
obstacle,  as  a  hill,  or  a  belt  of  woods,  would  break  the  force 
and  influence  of  these  destructive  winds.  Where  no  such  ob- 
stacle naturally  exists,  a  belt  or  border  of  rapidly  growing  trees 
*  should  be  planted  simultaneously  with  the  planting 
of  the  orchard.  J  *  *  Instances  occur  every  year  in  our 

own  section  where  sheltered  orchards  bear  full  crops,  whilst 
those  fully  exposed  to  the  winds  fail  entirely. — Barry,  Fruit  Gar- 
den, new  ed.,  176. 

Although  having  an  orchard  closely  pent  up  by  trees,  etc.,  is 
injurious,  nevertheless  a  screen  of  forest  trees,  at  such  distance 
from  the  fruit  trees  as  that  the  latter  will  not  be  shaded  by 
them,  is  of  very  great  service  in  protecting  the  trees  in  spring 
from  severe  cold  winds. — Bridgeman,  Gardener's  Assistant,  by 
Todd,  II.,  39. 

A  few  orchards,  in  specially  bleak  situations,  need  protection 
from  winter  winds,  but  all  orchards  need  wind-breaks  toward 
picking  time.  The  damage  done  in  exposed  orchards  by  the 
blowing  off  of  fruit  before  it  is  reached  by  the  pickers  may 
amount  to  50  per  cent  of  the  entire  value  of  the  crop,  or  even 
more.  Belts  of  natural  timber  furnish  most  protection  ;  but  they 
are  apt  to  be  the  breeding  grounds  of  noxious  insects.  A  thick 
row  of  arbor  vitte  (white  cedar),  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  2,  is 
easily  grown,  and  furnishes  ample  protection.  This  occupies 
some  land,  however,  and  such  dense  belts  of  evergreens  inter- 
fere seriously  with  atmospheric  drainage  (the  rapid  evening  flow 
of  cold  air  off  the  land  to  lower  ground).  This  is  a  most  impor- 


Opinions   of    Wind-breaks. 


73 


taut  consideration.  Very  satisfactory  results  have  been  secured  in 
young  orchards  by  planting  between  tree  rows,  and  in  encircling 
belts,  with  tall  growing,  western  dent  corn.  It  is  practicable  in 
some  cases  to  plant  Northern  Spy  on  the  more  exposed  sides  of 
the  orchard.  This  variety  makes  large  trees,  which  protect  the 
remainder  of  the  planting,  while  the  fruit  holds  on  much  better 


Fig.  2.    Ail  arbo 


lid-break.     (Adapted 
Vermont  Exp.  Sta.) 


Waugli,  Bulletin  55, 


than  in  other  varieties,  and  is  comparatively  undamaged  by  the 
wind. — F.  A.  Waugli,  Apple  Growing  in  Grand  Isle  County, 
Bulletin  55,  Vermont  Exp.  Sta. 

As  the  young  wood  and  fruit  buds  [of  the  peach]  often  suffer 
from  the  piercing  blasts  of  winter,  a  spot  that  is  sheltered  from 
these  is  much  to  be  desired.  And,  as  they  usually  come  from, 
the  north  and  northwest,  a  site  on  the  south  or  southeast  of  a 
wood  or  hill  is,  other  things  being  equal,  greatly  to  be  preferred. 
— Fulton,  Peach  Culture,  68. 

To  shelter  an  orchard  from  the  prevailing  wind  is  often  more 
important  even  than  the  aspect ;  for  pear  trees,  especially  when 
heavily  laden  with  fruit  and  exposed  to  a  wind  storm,  will  suffer 


74  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

more  injury  from  being  shaken  than  from  an  ordinary  late  frost. 
*  *  *  *  rpjie  evergreens  should  be  planted  in  lines  parallel 
with  the  pear  rows,  and  they  will  more  than  pay  for  the  ground 
they  occupy  in  protecting  the  fruit  trees  from  heavy  gales. — 
Qiiinn,  Pear  Culture  for  Profit,  19 

It  is  within  the  power  of  man  greatly  to  modify  the  character 
of  a  situation  by  the  judicious  planting  of  belts  of  evergreens, 
by  a  wise  addition  of  elements  and  a  proper  culture  of  the  soil. 
and  by  encouraging  the  shade  of  the  vineyard  itself  wherever 
circumstances  indicates  its  necessity.  —  Strong,  Culture  of  (lie 
Grape,  101. 

In  general,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  secure  protection  on 
the  west,  north  and  northeast.  *  *  No  defense  is  better 

than  a  good  belt  of  Norway  spruce,  and  if  they  form  a  crescent 
in  which  the  vineyard  is  embowered,  but  little  danger  need  be 
apprehended  from  violent  winds. — Phin,  Open  Air  Grape  Cul- 
ture, 40. 

If  the  land  has  no  protection  from  the  north  and  northwest, 
see  what  the  facilities  are  for  supplying  one  either  by  walls  or  a 
belt  of  trees.  If  trees  are  to  be  used,  evergreens  are  best. — Ful- 
ler, Grape  Culturist,  89. 

The  location  [for  the  vineyard]  should  be  sheltered  from  the 
cold  winds  from  the  north  and  northwest. — Husmaini,  Culture  of 
the  Native  Grape,  43. 

An  artificial  wind-break  of  this  kind  ["in  the  shape  of  an  L, 
sometimes  a  perfect  square,"  generally  of  cottonwoods,  of  the 
style  prevalent  in  the  west]  is  an  excellent  thing  for  the  build- 
ings, and  it  should  embrace  several  acres,  but  for  protection  to 
the  orchard  it  is  worse  than  useless.  In  a  quiet,  warm  day  in 
late  winter  these  groves  reflect  the  sun's  rays,  and,  if  continued 
for  some  days,  will  either  start  too  early  a  growth,  which  is  soon 
to  freeze  up  again,  or  the  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  bark  kills 
it  in  patches,  and  we  have  the  next  summer  the  evidence  in  the 
sloughing  off  of  the  bark  on  the  sunny  side,  followed  by  decayed 
wood  and  a  consequent  swarm  of  borers,  which  take  possession, 


Opinions   of    Wind-breaks 


75 


and  death  soon  follows.  It  is  generally  conceded  now  by  prac- 
tical orchardists  that  these  wind-breaks  are  detrimental  to  the 
fruit  trees,  but  we  are  frequently  asked  what  we  are  to  do  to 
prevent  the  fruit  from  blowing  off.  We  answer  by  asking  what 
prevents  this  in  an  orchard  of  several  hundred  acres  in  extent?* 
Adam  says  that  the  best  wind-break  is  "another  row  of  trees." 
If  it  is  determined  to  have  this  wind-break,  why  not  make  it  of 
the  Haas  apple? — C.  W.  Gurney,  Northwestern  Pomology  (Concord, 
Nebraska),  59. 

A  free  circulation  of  air  is  very  desirable  in  an  orchard,  and 
full  exposure  is  better  than  shutting  in  too  closely,  yet  in  a 
full  exposure  is  not  found  the  best  condition  for  a  successful 
orchard.  It  should  be  surrounded  with  wind-breaks  on  the  ex- 
posed sides,  sufficient  to  somewhat  break  the  force  of  the  wind, 
but  not  heavy  enough  to  prevent  a  good  circulation  of  air  through 
the  orchard  at  any  time.  It  is  much  more  important  to  have  a 
wind-break  on  the  south  and  west  sides  of  an  orchard  than  on 
the  north  or  east,  for  it  is  from  the  former  directions  that  come 
the  most  injurious  winds. — Samuel  B.  Green,  Amateur  Fruit-grow- 
ing (Minneapolis],  74. 


un 

Fig.  3.    Protection  of  an  orange  grove  from  the  morning  sun. 


Though  the  climate  of  California  renders  unnecessary  the  pro- 
tection against  rigorous  weather  which  fruit-growers  in  some 
other  parts  of  the  world  have  to  provide,  there  is  often  advantage 
in  securing  shelter  from  winds  and  protection  from  late  frosts. 

*The  outside  rows  act  as  wind-breaks.  The  larger  the  orchard,  the  less 
is  the  injury  to  the  interior  parts  of  it  by  wind.  An  orchard  may  be  very 
completely  protected  by  another  one  standing  to  the  windward.— L.  H.  6 


76  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

*  *  *  *  It  has  already  been  remarked  that  on  the  immediate 
coast  the  successful  growth  of  fruit  will  sometimes  be  wholly 
dependent  upon  proper  shelter  from  prevailing  winds,  and  in 
regions  farther  from  the  ocean  the  topography  may  induce  strong 
currants  of  air,  which  will  ill  affect  trees  and  vines.  In  all  such 
places  the  fruit-grower  should  plant  wind-breaks,  and  will  find 
himself  well  repaid  for  the  ground  they  occupy,  by  the  success- 
ful production  on  the  protected  area.  In  the  interior  valleys 
there  is  also  need  of  shelter  from  occasional  high  winds,  which 
may  visit  the  orchards  either  in  summer  or  winter,  and  prove 
very  destructive  both  to  trees  and  fruit. —  irickson,  California 
Fruits,  557. 

At  Rivers  [California]  our  orange  groves  are  subject  from  Oc- 
tober to  March  to  so-called  "northers,"  a  wind  blowing  from  due 
north,  and  usually  for  three  days  and  nights  continuously.  When 
orchards  are  not  protected  from  these  winds,  the  injury  some 
seasons  amounts  to  fully  75  per  cent  of  the  whole  crop.  Have 
also  found  that  when  the  shelter  belt  was  planted  on  all  sides, 
and  that  on  the  east  side  was  tall  enough  to  shelter  the  orchard 
from  the  first  rays  of  the  morning  sun,  the  injury  from  frost  was 
only  perceptible  in  the  branches  first  exposed,  while  in  orchards 
without  the  shelter  on  the  east  side,  the  damage  was  quite  marked 
throughout  the  orchard.  The  diagram  (Fig.  3,  page  75)  illustrates 
my  meaning  and  experience.  The  top  of  the  tree  at  the  right 
was  nipped  by  frost,  whilst  those  at  the  left  escaped.  The  Eu- 
calyptus globulus  (Blue  gum),  Schinus  molle  (so-called  Pepper- 
tree),  and  the  Monterey  cypress  are  all  used  for  shelter  belts ;  the 
last  named  is  the  best.* — H.  J.  RitdisiU,  in  American  Garden, 
XI.,  563. 

Do  not  locate  where  your  orchard  will  be  exposed  to  severe 
winds.  Quite  a  large  proportion  of  fruit  is  lost  every  year  by 
being  whipped  against  thorns  and  branches,  and  the  trees  them- 
selves are  sometimes  half  stripped  of  leaves.  If  you  have  reason 

*The  reason  for  the  escape  of  the  trees  is,  no  doubt,  the  fact  that  the 
high  shelter  shaded  the  grove  in  the  morning,  preventing  the  sun  from 
striking  directly  upon  the  frosted  trees.— L.  H.  B. 


Difficulties   of  Fruit-growing.  77 

to  apprehend  an  occasional  wind  storm,  plant  a  double  row  of 
eucalyptus,  pepper  or  cypress  trees  about  the  orchard  for  a  wind- 
break.— Spalding,  The  Orange:  Its  Culture  in  California,  40. 

A  place  free  from  strong  winds  is  best,  but  some  that  are 
subject  to  them  are  otherwise  exceedingly  desirable.  Some  windy 
places  have  been  proved  to  be  the  best  in  other  respects  for 
orange  culture.  If  orchards  be  planted  in  places  subject  to  wind, 
wind-breaks  should  be  planted  at  once. — Garey,  Orange  Culture 
in  California,  18. 

The  frequent  discussion  of  the  subject  [advantages  of  partial 
forest  shelter]  *  among  orange -growers,  its  impor- 

tance to  all,  and  especially  its  importance  to  many  portions  of 
the  state  [Florida]  where  success  must  ever  depend  upon  either 
forest  or  some  artificial  protection,  demands  careful  attention. 
Many  persons  have  heretofore  considered  it  unnecessary,  and  the 
idea  even  absurd.  But  years  of  experience  and  observation,  and 
especially  the  experience  of  the  winter  of  1876-7,  have  made 
many  converts. — Moore,  Treatise  and  Hand-book  of  Orange  Cul- 
ture, 3d  ed.,  54. 

Forests  and  fruit-growing. — One  of  the  reasons 
why  fruit-growing  is  attended  with  increasing  diffi- 
culties is  because  the  forests  have  been  destroyed, 
causing  the  country  to  become  drier  and  hotter  in 
summer  and  bleaker  in  winter.  Forest,  then,  aids 
the  fruit-grower  in  two  important  respects:  1.  It 
prevents  the  disastrous  effects  of  sweeping  winds. 
2.  It  conserves  and  regulates  atmospheric  moisture. 

It  is  very  doubtful  if  the  extremes  of  tempera- 
ture or  fluctuations  in  annual  means  are  more  in- 
tense in  recent  years  from  the  effects  of  forest  re- 
moval. It  may  not  even  be  true  that  there  are 
more  high  winds  now  than  formerly,  but  it  is  true 
that  winds  sweep  over  the  farm  with  greater  force. 


78  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Winds  sweep  the  surface  and  bear  away  the  mois- 
ture of  the  soil  at  the  same  time  that  they  come 
in  contact  with  the  trees  and  bushes  themselves, 
and  take  away  their  moisture.  The  chief  effect  of 
the  forest  is  to  check  the  force  of  winds  in  pre- 
scribed areas.  It  has  a  local  influence.  Aside  from 
all  this,  if  forests  were  retained  about  the  sources 
of  creeks  and  upon  springy  hillsides,  a  more  con- 
tinuous supply  of  water  might  be  obtained  for  irri- 
gation, stock,  spraying  and  domestic  uses.  It  is 
worth  saying,  too,  that  a  country  which  is  dotted 
here  and  there  with  forest  areas  is  a  much  more 
attractive  one,  to  every  person  who  loves  variety  of 
landscape  and  nature,  than  one  which  has  been  re- 
duced to  a  dead  sameness  by  the  removal  of  all 
timber. 

Whilst  there  are  thus  many  advantages  to  fruit- 
growing of  small  forest  preserves,  there  are  also 
disadvantages.  In  certain  cases  they  may  become 
the  harbors  and  rallying  places  of  serious  insect  or 
fungous  invasions.  This  difficulty  may  be  largely 
avoided  by  cutting  out  those  trees  and  bushes  which 
breed  the  fruit  -grower's  enemies.  The  wild  cherries 
are  much  loved  of  the  tent  caterpillars,  the  elm  of 
the  canker-worm,  and  wild  roses  and  their  kin  of 
the  rose-chafer.  The  cedar-apple  fungus  thrives 
upon  the  red  cedar,  and  is  thence  transported  to 
the  quince  or  apple  orchard,  and  a  form  of  it 
affects  the  wrild  thorn  trees.  The  red -rust  flour- 
ishes upon  the  wild  blackberries,  dewberries  and 
black  raspberries,  and  the  strawberry  diseases  breed 


Influences   of    Wind-breaks.  79 

upon  the  patches  of  wild  berries.  It  is  not  often, 
however,  that  the  forest  areas  become  a  very  serious 
menace  to  fruit-growers. 

Review  of  the  influences  of  u-ind-breaks  upon  fruit 
plantations. —  The  benefits  derived  from  wind-breaks 
are  numerous,  most  positive  in  character,  and  appear 
to  possess  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  the 
strongest  recommendations  of  horticultural  writers. 
Yet  the  injuries  occasionally  sustained  in  consequence 
of  shelter  belts  may  be  serious,  for  it  is  a  well 
attested  fact  that  trees  sometimes  suffer  from  cold 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  a  dense  wind-break 
when  they  escape  injury  in  other  places.  This  fact 
is  easily  explained,  however.  The  influence  of  a 
wind-break  upon  the  temperatures  of  an  adjacent 
plantation  is  governed  by  its  position  with  reference 
to  prevailing  or  severe  winds.  Of  itself,  wind 
probably  exerts  little  or  no  influence  upon  tempera- 
ture. It  acquires  the  temperature  of  surfaces  over 
which  it  passes.  If  these  surfaces  are  colder  than 
the  given  area,  cold  winds  are  the  result,  or  if 
warmer,  as  a  large  body  of  water,  the  winds  are 
warm.  But  wind  often  causes  great  injury  to  plants 
because  of  its  acceleration  of  evaporation;  and  winds 
which  are  no  colder  than  the  given  area,  if  com- 
paratively dry,  may  consequently  do  great  damage  to 
fruit  plantations.  This  is  particularly  true  at  cer- 
tain times  during  the  winter  season.  Land  winds, 
being  cold  and  dry,  are  therefore  apt  to  be  danger- 
ous, while  winds  which  traverse  large  bodies  of 
water,  and  are  therefore  comparatively  warm  and 


80 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


moist,  are  usually  in  themselves  protectors  of  tender 
plants.  The  following  table,  giving  the  average 
temperature  of  different  winds  at  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut, as  compared  with  the  mean  temperature  of 
that  place,  shows  that  those  winds  which  blow  off 
the  Sound  are  much  warmer  than  the  land  winds:* 


Direction  of 
wind. 

Average  above  the 
mean  temp. 

Direction  of 
wind. 

Average  under  the 
mean  temp. 

Southwest  
South  
Southwest 

+  4° 
+  3.2° 
+  1  2° 

Northeast  
West  
North 

-  1.1° 

-  2  7° 

East  

Northwest  .... 

-  4.5° 

The  mitigating  influence  of  bodies  of  water  is 
familiar ;  the  following  figures  will  serve  to  show 
the  extent  to  which  they  modify  the  mean  tempera- 
ture of  the  four  coldest  months  :t 


A.— IN     NEW     YORK. 


STATIONS. 

Dec. 
30.8 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Aver-       Lati- 
age.        tude. 

Eleva- 
tion. 

Period  of 
observation. 

Fredonia  

28.7 

27.4 

35.3    30.55    42.26° 

709  ft. 

1830-1848 

Rochester....    28.5 

2G. 

26.4 

33.1 

28.5       43.07° 

506  " 

/1830 
\  1833-1853 

Auburn  '  29.5    24.4 

24.6 

33.5    28.         42.55° 

650  " 

1827-1849 

Utica  !  26.8 

I 

23.3 

23.4 

32.3 

26.45    43.06° 

473  " 

1826-1848 

*  Loomis'  Meteorology,  88. 

t  Compiled  from  Blodget's  Climatology  of  the  United  States,  38. 


Warm   and    Cold    Winds. 


81 


B.  — IN     MICHIGAN. 


STATIONS. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Aver- 
age. 

Lati- 
tude. 

Eleva- 
tion. 

Period  of 
observation. 

Detroit  

26.9 

27. 

26.6 

35.4 

28.97 

42.2  ° 

580  ft. 

f  1836-1846 

\  1849-1851 

Fort   Gratiot. 

26.6 

25.3 

25.3 

33.2 

27.6 

42.55° 

598  " 

f  1830-1846 
\  1849-1852 

Battle  Creek. 

27. 

24.1 

22.6 

33.7 

26.85 

42.2  ° 

800  " 

1849-1855 

Ann  Arbor... 

25.3 

23.6 

21. 

32.7 

25.65 

42.15° 

700  " 

1854-1855 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  warmest  stations  are 
in  most  intimate  connection  with  large  bodies  of 
water:  Fredonia  is  on  Lake  Erie,  Rochester  near 
Lake  Ontario,  Auburn  near  the  central  New  York 
lake  region  and  possibly  within  the  influence  of  Lake 
Ontario,  while  Utica  is  farther  inland.  Similar  ob- 
servations might  be  made  concerning  the  Michigan 
stations.  Temperatures  of  the  coldest  days  would 
show  much  greater  differences. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  influence  of  a  body 
of  water  is  not  governed  by  its  proximity,  but  by 
elevation  of  the  land  and  direction  of  winds.  Grand 
Rapids,  Michigan,  although  about  twenty -five  miles 
from  Lake  Michigan,  is  greatly  influenced  by  it. 

It  is  evident  that  if  a  wind-break  stops  or  deflects 
a  warm  wind,  it  may  prove  injurious.  A  still  place 
in  the  lee  of  the  wind-break  may,  therefore,  be  the 
coldest  part  of  the  plantation.  So  far  as  the  writer 
is  able  to  learn,  this  sort  of  injury  from  wind-breaks 
is  confined  to  those  regions  which  are  directly  influ- 
enced by  bodies  o4  water.  The  eastern  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan  has  furnished  many  examples.  Most  growers 


82 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


in  that  region  demand  a  free  circulation  of  air  from 
the  lakeward,  while  desiring  protection  from  the  east. 
(Cf.  Mr.  Cook's  letter  in  Table  IV.,  page  70.)  This 
experience,  however,  does  not  argue  that  wind-breaks 
should  be  entirely  abolished  on  the  lakeward  sides 
of  plantations,  but  that  such  breaks  should  be  thin 
enough  to  allow  of  the  passage  of  wind,  while  break- 
ing its  force.  In  such  places,  a  wind-break  should 
be  simply  a  wind-break,  not  a  wind -stop. 

The  diagrams  (Figs.  4  and   5)   admirably  illustrate 


Fig.  4.    The  deflection  of  winds  over  a  lake  bluff. 

these  remarks.  Fig.  4  is  a  diagram  of  a  high  bank 
on  Lake  Michigan.  The  strong  winds  from  the  west- 
ward strike  the  bank  and  are  deflected  upward,  and 
strike  the  surface  again  at  some  distance  from  the 
cliff,  leaving  a  comparatively  still  space  at  A.  Decay- 
ing substances  on  the  beach  of  the  lake  are  often 
more  obnoxious  to  those  living  half  a  mile  or  more 
from  the  lake  than  to  those  living  near  the  bank. 
Fig.  5  is  a  diagram  showing  a  similar  deflection  of 
wind  and  a  comparatively  still  ar£a  (A)  by  a  very 
dense  wind-break. 


Deflection   of   Winds. 


83 


The  advantages  of  wind-breaks  in  lessening  wind- 
falls, and  in  preventing  the  breaking  of  trees,  do 
not  appear  to  be  sufficiently  understood.  In  sections 
which  are  influenced  by  large  bodies  of  water,  or 
when  the  fruits  grown  are  sufficiently  hardy  to  endure 
the  most  trying  winds,  these  are  the  chief  advantages 
of  shelter  belts,  and  are  ample  reasons  for  planting 
them.  The  greater  facility  with  which  labor  can  be 
performed  in  windy  weather,  under  the  protection  of 
a  wind-break,  is  worth  consideration. 

The   injuries   sustained   through   the  greater   abun- 


Fig.  5.    Deflection  of  winds  by  a  dense  shelter  belt. 

dance  of  insects  immediately  adjoining  the  wind- 
break are  easily  overcome  with  the  modern  spraying 
devices.  There  are  many  instances  in  which  the 
wind-break  lessens  the  vigor  of  one  or  two  adjoining 
rows  of  fruit  trees,  but  such  injury  appears  to  occur 
only  where  cultivation  is  poor,  or  where  the  wind- 
break has  already  obtained  a  good  foot -hold  when  the 
fruit  is  set.  The  writer  has  examined  a  number  of 
excellent  plantations  in  which  the  rows  next  the 
wind-break  are  as  vigorous  and  productive  as  any  in 
the  orchard.  In  fact,  a  number  of  good  observers 
declare  that  best  fruit  and  greatest  productiveness 


84  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

occur  next  the  wind-break.  When  the  wind-break 
has  been  long  established,  however,  it  is  difficult  to 
make  trees  live  alongside  of  it.  The  better  plan  is  to 
plant  the  break  with  or  only  shortly  before  the 
orchard  is  planted. 

The  following  from  T.  G.  Yeomans  &  Sons,  Wai- 
worth,  Wayne  County,  New  York,  who  have  had  ex- 
tensive and  pronounced  experiences  with  wind-breaks, 
is  a  judicious  statement  of  the  advantages  to  be  de- 
rived from  shelter  belts:  "We  have  been  extensively 
engaged  in  fruit -culture  for  over  forty  years,  and  now 
have  in  bearing  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres 
of  apple  orchard,  ten  acres  of  dwarf  pears,  ten  of 
orange  quince,  and  small  fruits.  For  many  years  we 
have  experimented  with  wind-breaks,  and  now  have 
many  artificial  shelter  belts  of  various  kinds  and 
ages,  the  oldest  having  been  planted  nearly  thirty 
years.  We  consider  wind-breaks  to  be  of  the  great- 
est value  to  fruit  culture,  and  we  are  confident  that 
most  fruit-growers  do  not  realize  their  importance. 
They  protect  the  trees  and  plants  at  all  seasons,  and 
prevent  windfalls  to  a  great  extent.  Orchards  thus 
protected  in  this  region  are  more  productive,  more 
uniform,  and  longer  lived  than  others.  They  render 
labor  among  the  trees  and  plants  much  easier  on 
windy  days,  and  enable  men  to  work  in  very  windy 
weather,  when  otherwise  it  would  be  impossible.  We 
have  always  succeeded  in  raising  good  fruit  close 
to  the  wind-break.  *  *  *  We  consider  land 
devoted  to  shelter  belts  as  very  profitable  invest- 
ment, even  to  ordinary  farm  crops.  We  should  not 


How   to   Make   the    Wind -break.  85 

attempt  to  grow  dwarf  pears,  orange  quinces  or 
raspberries,  without  shelter  of  some  sort." 

Position  of  the  wind-break  with  reference  to  the 
fruit  plantation. — It  appears  that  a  wind-break  is 
desirable  wherever  the  fruit  plantation  is  exposed 
to  strong  winds.  In  order  to  prevent  possible  in- 
jury from  too  little  circulation  of  air  in  certain 
localities,  particular  care  should  be  exercised  in  the 
construction  of  the  wind-break  (cf.  next  section). 
The  west,  southwest,  and  north  winds  are  the  ones 
which  need  greatest  attention  in  general.  The  pre- 
vailing winds  are  the  ones  which  are  chiefly  to  be 
avoided.  This  is  particularly  important  in  regions 
where  these  winds  are  normally  strong,  as  on  the 
ocean  shore.  In  fact,  it  is  generally  impossible  to 
grow  successful  orchards  in  full  exposure  to  the 
ocean. 

How  to  make  the  wind-break. — From  a  general 
study  of  the  subject,  it  appears  that  in  interior  lo- 
calities dense  plantings  are  advisable,  tight  hedges 
being  often  recommended.  This  is  because  the 
winds,  coming  off  the  land,  are  likely  to  make  the 
plantation  colder.  In  localities  influenced  by  bodies 
of  water,  however,  it  is  evidently  better  practice  to 
plant  a  belt  simply  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  or 
checking  the  force  of  the  warmer  winds,  still  allow- 
ing them  to  pass  in  their  course.  Such  a  belt 
gives  the  desired  shelter  to  trees  when  laden  with 
fruit  and  ice,  and  may  hold  the  snow,  while  danger 
from  comparatively  still  air  is  averted.  The  damage 
from  still  air  is  usually  observed  in  the  lee  of 


Construction   of  the    Wind-break.  87 

natural  forests,  and  it  is  in  such  places  that  injury 
is  reported  by  correspondents.  The  writer  has  found 
no  indisputable  evidence  to  show  that  such  injury 
ever  accompanies  artificial  wind-breaks;  places  where 
such  injury  was  reported  have  been  visited,  but  the 
loss  of  trees  and  fruit  was  plainly  due  to  age  of 
trees  or  other  obvious  reasons.  Still,  it  is  probable 
that  a  hedge -like  wind-break  may  sometimes  be  the 
cause  of  mischief;  and  such  should  never  be  made 
in  any  locality  until  the  problems  of  local  atmos- 
pheric drainage  have  been  well  considered. 

The  coarser  evergreens,  planted  close  together, 
are  therefore  advisable  for  interior  places,  while 
deciduous  trees,  or  evergreens  somewhat  scattered, 
are  often  better  for  the  lake  regions.  In  these 
latter  cases,  however,  the  lay  of  the  land  is  im- 
portant, for  if  atmospheric  drainage  is  good  there 
is  less  danger  of  injury  from  tight  belts.  Lower 
levels,  upon  which  cold  air  settles,  are  therefore 
more  in  need  of  open  belts  than  higher  lands. 
For  interior  places,  a  strip  of  natural  forest  is  the 
ideal  wind-break.  In  artificial  belts,  the  kind 
recommended  by  Messrs.  Yeomans,  and  illustrated  in 
Fig.  6,  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  best.  The  illus- 
tration shows  two  rows  of  maples  backing  up  a 
row  of  Norway  spruce.  "The  maples  then  receive 
and  break  the  force  of  the  wind,  and  prevent  the 
spruces  from  becoming  ragged.  We  never  shear 
the  spruces."  A  Lombardy  poplar  wind-break 
alongside  a  peach  orchard  is  shown  in  Fig.  7,  on  the 
following  page. 


Fig.  7.    A  Lombardy  poplar  \vind-break  to  protect  a  peach  orchard,  in  south- 
western Michigan. 


Trees  for    Wind-breaks. 


S!) 


Correspondents    in   New   York   and    Michigan    ad- 
vise the  following  trees  for  shelter  belts: 


Recommended  by 

Norway  spruce 25  persons. 

Austrian  pine 5 

Scotch  pine 3 

White  pine 2 

Native  deci'ous  trees  2 
Lombardy  poplar....  2 
European  larch 1 


Recommended  by 


Hemlock  spruce 

Arbor  vitse 

Nut-bearing  trees  .... 

Hard  maple 

Elm 

Basswood 

Willows... 


person. 


The  gist  of  the  whole  matter  is  to  select  those 
kinds  of  trees  which  are  most  thrifty  and  healthy 
in  the  particular  locality,  and  which  are  least  in- 
fested by  fungi  and  insects  that  are  also  common 
to  fruit  plants,  and  then  to  study  the  local  condi- 
tions carefully  to  determine  how  dense  or  how  open 
the  shelter  should  be.  For  California,  Wickson* 
recommends  species  of  eucalyptus,  pepper  or  schinus, 
Monterey  cypress,  Monterey  pine,  osage  orange,  locust 
and  maples.  "Quite  a  number  of  the  larger  grow- 
ing deciduous  fruit  trees,"  he  continues,  "are  used 
to  some  extent  along  the  exterior  lines  of  orchards 
for  the  protection  of  the  iuclosure.  The  fig,  the 
walnut,  the  chestnut,  seedling  almonds  and  apricots, 
are  especially  commended  for  such  use." 

In  Florida  it  is  a  common  practice  to  leave 
strips  of  the  original  forest  to  serve  as  shelter 
belts.  If  this  forest  is  hammock  land,  and  there- 
fore well  clothed  underneath,  the  protection  of  a 
belt  two  to  four  rods  wide  will  be  most  complete. 


'California  Fruits,  558. 


<JO  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

The  cabbage  palmetto  is  often  allowed  to  stand 
promiscuously  through  the  orange  plantation,  partly 
to  serve  as  a  protection  from  winds,  partly  for 
shade  and  ornament,  and  partly  to  exert  some  sup- 
posed influence  in  correcting  the  acidity  of  the  land. 
In  exposed  places,  orange  -  groves  are  sometimes 
protected  by  very  tall  open  fences. 

General  summary  upon  wind  -breaks. — 1.  A  wind- 
break may  exert  great  influence  upon  a  fruit  planta- 
tion. 

2.  The  benefits  derived   from  wind-breaks  are  the 
following :   Protection  -from  cold  ;   lessening  of   evapo- 
ration from    soil    and    plants;    lessening    of    windfalls; 
lessening   of    liability  to   mechanical   injury  of   trees ; 
retention  of   snow  and   leaves ;   facilitating   of    labor ; 
protection    of    blossoms    from    severe    winds  ;    enabling 
trees   to    grow   more   erect ;    lessening   of   injury  from 
the   drying  up  of    small    fruits  ;    retention  of    sand    in 
certain    localities ;   hastening  of   maturity  of   fruits  in 
some  cases  ;   encouragement  of  birds  ;    ornamentation. 

3.  The    injuries    sustained    from    wind-breaks     are 
as   follows :   Preventing   the   free  circulation  of   warm 
winds,    and    consequent    exposure    to    cold ;    injuries 
from  insects  and  fungous  diseases  ;   injuries  from  the 
encroachment  of   the  wind-break  itself ;   increased  lia- 
bility to  late  spring  frosts  in  rare  cases. 

«.  The  injury  from  cold,  still  air  is  usually 
confined  to  those  localities  which  are  directly 
influenced  by  large  bodies  of  water,  and  which 
are  protected  by  forest  belts.  It  can  be  avoided 
by  planting  thin  belts. 


Summary   upon    Wind-breaks.  91 

b.  The    injury  from    insects    can    be    averted 
by  spraying  with  arsenical  poisons. 

c.  The   injury  from   the   encroachment   of   the 
wind-break  may  be  averted,  in   part  at   least,  by 
good    cultivation,    and    by  planting   the   fruit    si- 
multaneously with  the  belt.     So  far  as  practicable, 
the  wind-break   should   be   planted   at  a  distance 
of  six  rods  or  more  from  the  fruit  plantation. 

4.  Wind -breaks    are   advantageous   wherever   fruit 
plantations  are  exposed  to  strong  winds. 

5.  As    a     rule,    in     localities    where     atmospheric 
drainage    will    not    be    seriously   checked,    the    wind- 
break   should    have    a    comparatively   dense    bottom, 
formed  by  undergrowth  or  low -branching  trees. 

6.  The  wind-break  should  never   be  dense  enough 
to   force   the   buds   on   fruit    trees   in   those   localities 
which   are   subject    to   late   spring   frosts,  as    it   may 
sometimes   do  when    it   faces  the  south  and   acts  like 
a   southern   exposure   for   the   plantation.       It   is   evi- 
dent,   therefore,    that    spruces    and    other    evergreens 
should    be   planted    sparingly  in    such    localities,  and 
that   deciduous    trees   which   leaf    out   late    in    spring 
should  be  chosen  for  the  wind-break. 

7.  In  interior  places,  dense  or  broad   belts,  of   two 
or  more  rows  of   trees,  are  desirable,  while  within   the 
influence    of     large    bodies    of    water    narrow    belts, 
comprising  but  a  row  or  two,  are  usually  preferable. 

8.  The   best  trees  for  wind-breaks   in   the   north- 
eastern   states   are    Norway  spruce,  and  Austrian   and 
Scotch   pines,  among   the  evergreens.     Among  decidu- 
ous  trees,  most    of   the   rapid -growing    native  species 


92  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing, 

are  useful.  A  mixed  plantation,  with  the  hardiest 
and  most  vigorous  deciduous  trees  on  the  windward, 
is  probably  the  ideal  artificial  shelter  belt.* 


PROTECTING  PLANTATIONS  FROM  FROST. 

Having  now  considered  the  relations  of  location, 
site  and  wind-breaks  to  cold  and  frost,  we  may  ad- 
dress ourselves  to  a  discussion  of  the  means  by  which 
injury  from  local  frosts  may  be  averted,  in  case  they 
threaten  to  occur.  These  means  are  of  two  types, — 
those  which  attempt  to  enable  the  plant  to  escape 
injury  from  the  frosts,  and  those  which  attempt  to 
prevent  the  frost  from  occurring.  Altogether  there 
are  six  general  means  which  have  been  proposed  for 
protecting  plants  from  frost:  Mulching,  covering  the 
plants,  adding  the  vapor  of  water  to  the  atmosphere, 
making  artificial  clouds,  causing  currents  of  air,  and 
heating  the  air.f 

Mulching  to  enable  plants  to  escape  frost. t — It  is 
a  general  opinion  that  a  mulch  or  heavy  cover  placed 
upon  the  soil  about  plants  when  it  is  frozen  will  re- 
tard flowering  and  the  maturing  of  fruit ;  yet  the 
practice  appears  to  be  often  unsatisfactory,  and  there 
are  reasons  for  supposing  that  the  philosophy  of  the 
subject  is  not  commonly  understood.  The  subject  is 
one  of  increasing  importance,  for  it  is  essential  that 

*Bull.  48,  Neb.  Exp.  Sta.,  on  wind-breaks,  comes  to  hand  as  we  go  to  press. 
tA  seventh  category  may  be  added,— whitewashing  the  plants.    See  Whitten, 
Bull.  38,  Mo.  Exp.  Sta.,  and  Garden-Making,  p.  64. 
JConsult  Bull.  59,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


Mulching   to   Retard  Fruits.  93 

every   means    be    used    to    escape    late    spring    frosts. 
Efforts    must   also  be  made  to  reach  the  market  when 
there  is  least  competition  from  other   sources,  and,  in 
the  north,  at   least,  this    competition  comes 
chiefly  from  early  products  produced  in  states 
to   the    southward.      A  rehearsal   of    experi- 
ments made  to  test  the  efficiency  of  mulching 
for   these   purposes  will   indicate  the  nature 
of  the  problem. 

The  tests  were  made  at  Ithaca,  New 
York.  The  ground  froze  deep  in  December, 
and  the  frost  did  not  leave  it  until  the  mid- 
dle of  March.  Upon  the  28th  of  February, 
1893,  the  snow  being  well  settled  and  a  foot 
and  more  deep  in  the  open  fields,  heavy 
mulches  of  coarse  manure  and  litter  from 
horse  stables  were  placed  about  apples, 
almonds,  buffalo  berries,  blackberries,  rasp- 
berries, currants,  gooseberries,  grapes,  June- 
berries,  peaches  and  quinces ;  and  straw- 
berries were  mulched  later.  Observations 
were  also  made  upon  roses  which  were 
mulched  in  the  fall  for  winter  protection. 

The    apples    and   other    tree -fruits   com- 

•     -,    ,  1-1  .    •  •        Fi«- 8-  Effect 

prised   trees   which  were   set   in   the   spring  ofmuichupon 

of    1889.       Half   of    a   large     wagon    load  shoot. 
of     mulch    was     placed     about    each    tree, 
covering  the  snow    deep   for  a  distance    of  three   feet 
or  more   in    all    directions.       The    small -fruits    were 
mulched    heavily  to  the  middle  of   the  rows,  or   three 
and   a   half   to   four  feet   in  each    direction.     A  heavy 


94  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

wagon  load  of  mulch  was  sufficient  to  cover  about 
ten  feet  of  row.  On  the  29th  of  March,  these 
mulches  were  examined,  and,  although  the  frost  had 
left  the  fields  fully  ten  days  before,  the  earth  under 
the  cover  was  still  solidly  frozen  and  from  six  to 
eight  inches  of  snow  persisted.  Here,  then,  was  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  study  the  effects  of  a  cold 
soil  upon  the  vegetation  of  plants.  On  the  13th  of 
April,  there  was  still  frost  and  snow  under  the  goose- 
berry mulches,  and  yet  both  mulched  and  unmulched 
plants  seemed  to  be  starting  alike.  It  was  appar- 
ent that  the  temperature  of  the  soil  exerted  no 
influence  upon  the  swelling  of  the  buds,  for  the 
buds  which  projected  above  the  mulch  were  as  for- 
ward as  those  upon  untreated  plants,  while  the  buds 
immediately  under  the  mulch,  upon  the  same  twig, 
were  wholly  dormant.  The  illustration  (Fig.  8,  page 
93)  shows  a  gooseberry  twig  upon  which  this  differ- 
ence is  apparent.  The  twig  was  covered  up  to  the 
point  indicated  by  the  mark  (A).  The  protruding 
portion  is  seen  to  have  pushed  its  buds  forward, 
except  the  very  tip,  where  the  shoot  was  winter 
killed.  .Shoots  of  which  the  tips  were  caught  under 
the  mulch  showed  perfectly  dormant  buds  at  both 
ends,  while  the  protruding  middle  portion  was  as 
forward  as  twigs  upon  unmulched  plants.  Moreover, 
the  protruding  portions  of  the  mulched  plants  main- 
tained their  forwardness,  and  produced  leaves,  flow- 
ers and  fruit  at  the  same  time  as  the  contiguous 
plants  which  were  not  treated.  Crandall  currants, 
Juneberries,  roses,  grapes,  and  all  the  tree  fruits, 


The   Stored   Food.  95 

behaved  similarly  throughout  the  season.  The 
mulched  blackberries,  raspberries  and  Victoria  cur- 
rants seemed  to  be  a  day  or  two  behind  the  others 
in  starting,  but  they  very  soon  caught  up,  and  there 
was  no  difference  in  season  of  bloom  and  maturity 
of  fruit. 

With  the  strawberries  the  case  was  far  different. 
General  Putnam  and  Oregon  Everbearing  were 
mulched  March  25,  when  the  ground  was  completely 
thawed  out.  The  mulch  covered  the  plants  and  the 
entire  space  between  the  rows  to  the  depth  of  three 
inches.  On  the  15th  of  May,  this  mulch  was  re- 
moved. At  this  time,  the  unmulched  plants  were  in 
full  leaf,  and  were  nearly  ready  to  bloom.  The 
plants  under  the  mulch  were  just  starting  into  leaf, 
and  the  growth  was  weak  and  bleached.  The  plants 
were  endeavoring  to  push  themselves  through  the 
cover  to  the  light  and  air.  The  mulch  was  forked 
off  the  plants,  and  they  gradually  assumed  a  normal 
color  and  habit,  and  bloomed  June  1.  The  bloom 
was  delayed  from  ten  days  to  two  weeks,  according 
to  the  depth  of  the  covering.  The  plants  did  not 
seem  to  recover  entirely,  however,  and  the  fruitage 
was  somewhat  lighter  than  on  the  normal  plants ; 
but  it  was  delayed  about  a  week. 

All  this  is  what  the  botanist  would  have  ex- 
pected. It  is  well  known  that  plants  store  up 
starchy  matters  in  their  bulbs  or  branches,  to  be 
used  in  the  growth  of  the  adjacent  parts  in  early 
spring.  The  earliest  bloom  of  spring  is  supported 
by  this  store  of  nutriment,  rather  than  by  food 


96  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

freshly  appropriated  from  the  soil.  This  is  well 
illustrated  by  placing  well -matured  twigs  of  apple 
or  willow  (or  other  early -flowering  plants)  in  vases 
of  water  in  winter,  when  the  buds  will  burst  and 
flowers  will  often  appear.  It  was  admirably  enforced 
by  a  simple  experiment  which  we  made  in  connec- 
tion with  the  foregoing  inquiry.  On  the  15th  of 
February,  a  branch  of  a  nectarine  tree  which  stood 
alongside  the  horticultural  laboratory  was  drawn 
into  the  office  through  a  window.  This  office  was 
maintained  at  the  temperature  of  a  living  room. 
On  the  6th  of  April  the  buds  began  to  swell,  and 
the  young  leaves  had  reached  a  length  of  three- 
fourths  inch  a  week  later.  The  leaves  finally  at- 
tained their  full  size  upon  this  branch  before  the 
buds  upon  the  remaining  or  out -door  portion  of  the 
plant  had  begun  to  swell.  This  experiment  is  by  no 
means  a  novel  one,  for  essentially  the  same  thing  has 
been  often  accomplished  with  the  vine  and  other  plants; 
but  it  must  impress  upon  the  reader  the  fact  that 
much  of  the  bursting  vegetation  of  springtime  is 
supported  by  a  local  store  of  nutriment,  and  is  more 
or  less  independent  of  root  action. 

These  various  experiments  and  observations  show 
that  a  mulch  can  retard  flowers  and  fruit  only 
when  it  covers  the  top  of  the  plant  as  well  as  the 
soil.  If  the  ground  could  be  kept  frozen  for  a 
sufficiently  long  period  after  vegetation  begins,  the 
plant  would  consume  its  supply  of  stored  food,  and 
might  then  be  checked  from  inactivity  of  the  root, 
but  this  would  evidently  be  at  the  expense  of  in- 


Effects   of  Mulching.  97 

jury  to  the  plant ;  but,  in  practice,  it  is  fortunately 
impossible  to  hold  the  frost  in  the  soil  so  long. 
It  is  evident,  too,  that  the  covering  of  strawberries 
and  other  low  plants  for  the  purpose  of  retarding 
fruit  must  be  practiced  with  caution,  for  a  mulch 
of  sufficient  depth  to  measurably  delay  vegetation  is 
apt  to  bleach  and  injure  the  young  growth,  and  to 
lessen  the  crop.  Yet  it  can  sometimes  be  used  to 
good  effect,  and  fruiting  can  be  delayed  a  week, 
perhaps  even  more.  Some  skilful  strawberry -grow- 
ers are  able  to  delay  fruiting  upon  small  patches 
as  much  as  two  weeks  by  means  of  mulches. 

We  may  draw  the  following  conclusions  upon 
the  effects  of  mulching  to  retard  bloom  : 

1.  The   early  bloom   of   fruit -plants   depends   very 
largely  upon  the  appropriation  of   food  stored  in  the 
twigs,  and   it   is    more   or    less    independent   of    root 
action.       This    is    proved    both    by  direct   experiment 
and  by  study  of  the  physiology  of  plants. 

2.  It   must   follow',  then,  that   the   temperature   of 
the   twig   or  branch   must   be   reduced   if    its   vegeta- 
tion  is    to    be    much    retarded ;    or,  in   other   words, 
thvi    top   of    the   plant,  as   well    as   the   soil,  must   be 
mulched,  and    in    practice   this   is   possible   only  with 
strawberries    and    other    very    low    plants,    or    those 
which  are  laid  down  during  winter. 

3  There  is  danger  of  injuring  plants  by  heavy 
mulch  which  is  allowed  to  remain  late  in  spring. 
If  it  is  desired  to  retard  flowers  or  fruit  by  mulch- 
ing, the  practice  should  not  be  violent,  and  the 
plants  should  be  carefully  watched. 


J)S  The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 

4.  Many  strawberry -growers  are  able  to  delay  the 
ripening    of    fruit    by   mulching    from    two    days    to 
two   weeks  ;   but   a   week's  delay  is   usually  about  the 
limit  of  profitable  results. 

5.  Whilst    mulching    the    ground    may    not    retard 
the   period   of    bloom,  and   thus   enable   the    plant   to 
escape   frost,  it  is,  nevertheless,  often    useful    in    pro- 
tection   from    frost   because   it    holds    moisture,    and, 
therefore,  tends   to  raise   the  dew-point,  as   explained 
farther  on. 

Covering  plants  for  protection. — The  discussion  of 
the  mulching  of  strawberries  in  order  to  protect 
them  from  cold  and  from  frost,  as  already  described, 
really  belongs  here.  It  is,  of  course,  well  known 
that  plants  may  be  covered  to  protect  them  not 
only  from  the  winter's  cold,  but  from  the  incidental 
frosts  of  spring.  It  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  the 
various  means  of  covering  them,  but  to  enter  into 
only  sufficient  detail  to  enable  the  reader  to  grasp 
the  capabilities  of  the  operation. 

Many  low -growing  plants  can  be  covered  with 
earth  for  protection.  Thus  it  is  a  practice  in  some 
places  to  plow  a  furrow  or  two  over  the  strawberry 
rows  when  a  frost  is  anticipated,  Fig  trees,  and 
other  low  or  flexible -stemmed  plants,  are  often 
planted  on  sloping  land,  so  that  they  may  be  bent 
to  the  surface  and  covered  when  occasion  requires. 
In  parts  of  Russia,  and  other  cold  countries,  the 
trees  of  orchard  fruits  are  often  pegged  down  in  a 
similar  manner. 

Blackberries    and    raspberries    are    extensively  laid 


Laying   Down   the    Plants. 


99 


down  in  cold  climates,  and  it  may  be  well  to 
relate  the  method  here,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  occupy  bleak  locations.  Late  in  fall,  the 
bushes  are  tipped  over  and  covered.  Three  men 
are  generally  employed  to  perform  this  labor.  One 
man  goes  ahead  with  a  long -handled,  round -pointed 
shovel  and  digs  the  earth  away  six  inches  deep 
from  under  the  roots.  The  second  man  has  a  six- 


Fig.  9.    Peach  tree  trained  for  laying  down. 

tilled  or  four-tined  fork  which  he  thrusts  against 
the  plant  a  foot  or  so  above  the  ground,  and  by 
pushing  upon  the  fork  and  stamping  against  the 
roots  with  the  foot,  the  plant  is  laid  over  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  earth  was  removed.  The 
third  man  now  covers  the  plant  with  earth  or 
marsh  hay.  Earth  is  generally  used,  and  if  the 
variety  is  a .  tender  one  the  whole  bush  is  covered 


]00  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

two  or  three  inches  deep.  Hardy  varieties  may  be 
simply  held  down  by  throwing  a  few  shovelfulls  of 
earth  on  the  tops  of  the  canes,  thus  allowing  the 
snow  to  fill  in  amongst  the  tops.  If  the  grower 
lives  in  a  locality  where  he  does  not  fear  late 
spring  frosts,  the  bushes  should  be  raised  early  in 
the  spring ;  but  if  frosts  are  feared,  they  may  be 
left  under  cover  until  corn -planting  time.  If  the 
buds  become  large  and  are  bleached  white  under 
cover,  they  will  suffer  when  exposed  to  the  atmos- 
phere ;  and  one  must  watch  the  bushes  in  spring, 
and  raise  them  before  the  buds  become  soft  and 
white.  This  method  of  laying  down  blackberry 
plants  costs  less  than  $10  per  acre,  and  the  slight 
breaking  of  the  roots  is  no  disadvantage.  Some 
growers  dig  the  earth  away  on  both  sides  of  the 
row,  and  still  others  bend  over  the  canes  without 
any  digging.  Whatever  method  is  employed,  the 
operator  must  be  careful  not  to  crack  or  split  the 
canes.  The  method  can  be  varied  with  different 
varieties,  for  some  bear  stiffer  canes  than  others. 

The  laying  down  of  orchard  trees  is  little  prac- 
ticed in  this  country,  but  it  must  come  to  be  better 
understood  as  the  country  develops  and  a  greater 
interest  arises  in  amateur  fruit-growing.  Fig.  9 
(page  99)  shows  a  method  of  training  peach  trees 
for  laying  down.*  The  trunk  is  trained  in  a  hori- 
zontal position,  and  it  should  be  ten  feet  or  more 
long  to  allow  of  its  being  twisted.  The  top  is  trained 

*.!.   T.    Macomber,   "  Peach  -  growing    in   the   Cold   North,"  Amer.    Garden, 
xi.  231. 


Covering   Peaches   in   Kansas.  101 

fan-shaped  and  is  supported  by  a  stake,  and  the  bend 
of  the  trunk  rests  upon  a  block  of  wood.  The 
long,  horizontal  trunk  remains  comparatively  small 
and  pliable  year  after  year.  It  should  be  covered 
with  an  inverted  board  trough  at  all  seasons,  to 
prevent  injury  from  the  sun.  The  flat  top  is  laid 
upon  the  ground  each  winter,  by  twisting  the  trunk, 
and  is  covered  with  boards;  it  is  not  lifted  un- 
until  all  danger  of  late  spring  frosts  is  past. 

Experiments  along  this  line  have  been  made  in 
Kansas:*  "When  the  first  attempt  at  their  protection 
was  made,  the  trees  [peaches]  were  three  years  old 
from  the  bud.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  1887,  the 
block  was  thinned  out  by  removing  some  of  the 
trees,  leaving  the  remainder  at  irregular  intervals, 
the  alternate  best  trees  with  single,  uuforked  trunks, 
being  left  standing  wherever  they  occurred  in  the 
rows,  with  the  result  of  an  irregular  alternate  ar- 
rangement, in  which  the  trees  stood  perhaps  from 
six  to  ten  feet  apart.  The  tops  of  a  number  of 
these  trees  were  prepared  for  tying -up  by  the  re- 
moval of  any  wide -spreading  branches,  and  by  the 
shortening -in  of  those  remaining.  After  this  prun- 
ing, the  branches  were  drawn  toward  the  main 
stem,  held  in  place  by  ties  of  soft  material  to  avoid 
the  barking  of  the  branches,  and  the  entire  tree -top 
thus  prepared  was  surrounded  by  evergreen  branches, 
mostly  those  of  pine  and  red  cedar,  which  happened 
to  be  at  hand  through  certain  changes  in  the  ever- 

*Bull.  14,  Kan.  Exp.  Sta.,  Dec.,  1890. 


102  The   Principles   of  Fruit -yroiving. 

green  plantations  on  the  college  grounds.  Not  only 
were  these  evergreen  branches  placed  outside  to 
some  thickness,  where  they  were  held  by  cords 
wrapped  around,  but  the  spaces  in  the  interior  were 
filled  with  them  as  compactly  as  possible.  To  sup- 
port this  heavy  mass  of  material,  two  or  three 
stakes  were  driven  alongside  the  tree  in  position  to 
be  wrapped  in  with  the  branches.  This  attempt 
was  followed  by  results  but  partially  favorable. 
While  the  trees  that  had  the  advantage  of  protec- 
tion showed  more  bloom  than  those  alongside  not 
so  protected,  the  difference  was  not  sufficiently 
marked  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  this  method 
could  be  made  of  practical  benefit.  It  was  found 
to  be  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  retain  the  evergreen 
branches  closely  enough  in  and  about  the  head  of 
the  peach  tree  to  keep  out  the  killing  cold.  More- 
over, covering  material  of  this  kind  could  not  be 
obtained  in  our  state,  except  by  accident,  and  some 
substitute  must  be  found.  As  a  cheaper  and,  it  is 
probable,  a  better  material,  we  should  have  made  a 
repetition  of  the  trial  with  corn  fodder,  had  we  not 
been  led  by  a  stray  suggestion  to  modify  the  method. 
"The  following  fall,  1888,  the  trees  were  in  good 
condition  for  further  trial.  The  shortening -in  of 
some  branches  and  the  thinning -out  of  others  had 
left  abundant  fruiting  wood,  favorably  distributed  and 
well  covered  with  fruit -buds.  Our  plan  was  now  to 
bend  the  trees  downward,  bringing  them  as  near  the 
earth  as  possible,  and  keeping  them  in  this  position, 
to  be  covered  by  a  mass  of  hav  or  similar  material 


Laying   Down    Trees   in   Kansas.  103 

thrown  over  the  tops.  To  facilitate  the  bending- down 
of  the  tree,  the  earth  was  removed  on  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  trunk,  preferably  north  and  south,  and 
on  these  sides  the  larger  roots  were  cut  off  near  the 
base,  those  on  the  right  and  left  being  allowed  to  re- 
main as  far  as  possible  undisturbed,  to  keep  the  tree 
in  unbroken  connection  with  the  soil.  Now,  as  the 
tree -trunk  was  inclined  toward  the  earth,  the  lateral 
roots,  by  twisting  slightly,  offered  no  resistance  to 
the  operation.  When  the  tree  was  sufficiently  inclined, 
forked  stakes  were  driven  over  the  branches  into  the 
earth,  to  keep  all  in  position.  The  soil  was  then 
heaped  well  over  the  roots  and  base  of  the  trunk,  to 
a  depth  sufficient  to  protect  them  thoroughly  against 
drying  out,  and  finally  the  entire  tree  was  covered 
with  whatever  of  suitable  material  was  at  hand.  Not 
having  enough  of  this  covering  material  upon  the 
grounds,  we  bought  of  a  neighboring  farmer  the  poor 
hay  in  the  top  and  bottom  of  an  old  stack  at  a  nom- 
inal cost.  This  final  covering  was  put  in  place  in 
the  last  of  November.  To  prevent  the  scattering  of 
the  hay  by  the  wind,  we  soon  after  found  it  expedi- 
ent to  hold  it  in  place  by  throwing  upon  the  piles  a 
lot  of  brush,  grape  prunings,  and  the  trimmings  of 
the  orchard. 

"Early  in  the  following  April  (the  2d  and  3d), 
when  the  warm  weather  began  to  burst  the  buds,  the 
covering  was  removed,  the  trees  raised  to  an  upright 
position,  properly  staked  and  tied,  the  blooming 
shoots  again  shortened -in  where  necessary,  the  earth 
replaced  firmly  about  the  roots,  the  ground  leveled, 


104  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

and  the  rubbish  removed.  The  trees  were  now  al- 
lowed to  make  whatever  growth  the  season  might 
afford.  The  trees  laid  down  were  in  all  varieties 
found,  on  uncovering,  to  be  in  advance  of  their  un- 
protected neighbors,  and  in  several  cases  the  flower- 
buds  were  expanded  under  the  cover,  the  buds  on 
standing  trees  being  yet  unblown.  When  all  were 
in  the  best  condition  for  an  estimate  of  the  pro- 
portion of  bloom,  a  comparison  of  the  trees  that 
had  been  laid  down  with  others  of  the  same  varie- 
ties exposed  to  the  winter,  showed  for  the  former 
proportions  of  full  bloom  varying  from  one -third  in 
Ringgold  to  two -thirds  in  most  varieties,  exposed 
trees  of  the  same  showing  only  here  and  there 
scattering  blooms.  Hale's  Early  gave  on  exposed 
trees  a  third,  and  on  protected  trees  three-fourths 
of  a  full  bloom.  Most  of  the  trees  set  a  large 
number  of  fruits,  and  prospects  were  good  for  a 
crop ;  but  at  the  time  of  ripening  a  peculiar  rot 
attacked  all  sorts  alike,  and  of  the  whole  not  over 
a  bushel  of  sound  fruit  was  gathered. 

"The  third  trial,  1889,  was  conducted  in  all  re- 
spects like  the  second.  The  trees  had  by  the  end 
of  the  summer  recovered  from  the  rather  severe 
pruning  necessary  to  bring  them  to  place  the  pre- 
vious fall,  and  were  accordingly  in  good  condition 
for  the  last  attempt.  Moreover,  the  growth  of  the 
unpruned  side -roots  had  been  such  as  to  put  the 
trees  fairly  into  shape  to  do  well  without  the  roots 
at  front  and  back,  and  when  these  were  again  un- 
covered they  were  found  to  be  short  but  fibrous, 


Laying   Down    Trees   in    Kansas.  105 

wherefore  their  amputation  to  facilitate  laying  down 
was  no  longer  needed. 

"The  result  of  the  last  trial,  shown  in  the  pro- 
duct of  the  summer  just  past,  may  be  summed  up 
briefly  in  these  statements :  The  trees  are  now  in 
good,  healthy  condition.  The  bearing  wood  is  in  a 
compact  head,  with  no  long  branches  to  be  broken 
down  by  the  fruit.  The  shoots  and  spurs  are,  at 
this  writing,  covered  with  plump  fruit -buds.  The 
lateral  roots  are  strong,  while  those  at  front  and 
back  are  no  longer  an  obstacle  to  the  operation  of 
laying  down  the  trees.  There  was  this  year  a  full 
crop  of  fruit,  and  such  fine  Crawfords,  Oldmixons, 
Smocks,  Stumps,  Elbertas,  Columbias,  Bonanzas  and 
Ringgolds  were  not  to  be  found  in  any  orchard  but 
our  own  in  this  locality,  though  in  some  favored 
stations  outside  the  college  farm  certain  seedling 
trees  were  in  fruit  in  a  limited  way.  We  sold  most 
of  the  product  readily  on  the  spot  at  the  rate  of 
sixty  cents  per  basket  for  the  finest  early,  and  fifty 
cents  for  the  later  fruit,  the  basket  being  the  ordi- 
nary ten -pound  grape  package. 

"The  cost  of  putting  down  seventy -one  trees  in 
the  fall,  including  labor  and  hay  bought,  with  the 
expense  of  replacing  them  in  the  spring,  amounted 
to  about  twenty  cents  per  tree,  the  labor  being  paid 
at  the  rate  of  ten  cents  per  hour,  and  the  hay 
costing  two  dollars.  The  average  yield  of  the  trees, 
accounting  for  fruit  gathered  and  sold,  and  allowing 
by  estimate  for  some  stolen,  was  not  far  from  one- 
half  bushel  each,  leaving,  at  the  prices  obtained,  a 


106  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

net  return  of  not  far  from  one  and  one -half  dollars 
per  tree." 

Some  kinds  of  fruits  may  be  advantageously  pro- 
tected by  covering  them  with  temporary  (or  even  per- 
manent) screens.  This  is  extensively  done  in  pine- 
apple culture,  in  which  the  better  varieties  are  grown 
under  lath  or  slat  sheds,  for  the  purpose  of  protection 
from  frost,  sun  and  drought.  Small  or  amateur 
plantations  of  strawberries,  or  even  of  bush -fruits, 
may  be  easily  covered  with  lath  screens  when  frost  is 
feared. 

Adding  vapor  of  water  to  the  air.  —  The  most 
serious  frosts  usually  occur  when  the  air  is  dry. 
An  abundance  of  watery  vapor  in  the  air  probably 
tends  to  check  the  radiation  of  the  earth's  heat,  and 
the  evaporation  of  water  has  a  pronounced  influence 
in  raising  the  dew-point.  The  means  of  adding 
vapor  to  the  atmosphere  are  several  :  Spraying, 
flooding  and  irrigating,  mulching  and  tilling.  A 
thorough  spraying  of  plants  with  ordinary  cold 
water  at  nightfall,  when  a  frost  is  feared,  is  one  of 
the  most  efficient  means  of  protection  from  light 
frosts.  The  machinery  which  is  used  in  spraying 
for  insects  and  fungi  may  be  used  for  this  purpose. 
Strawberries  and  other  low  plants  may  be  wet  at 
nightfall  by  means  of  a  sprinkling  cart.  Elaborate 
stand-pipe  devices,  connecting  with  underground 
pipes,  have  been  used  in  California  to  facilitate  the 
spraying  of  orchards.*  The  flooding  of  fruit-plan- 
tations to  protect  the  plants  from  frost  is  practi- 

*  Sec  Galloway,  Yearbook,  V.  S.  Dept.  Agric.  189"),  Io6. 


Adding   Moisture   to   the   Air.  107 

cable  only  in  cranberry  bogs,  and  in  places  where 
vineyards  are  arranged  to  be  flooded  for  the  de- 
struction of  phylloxera. 

The  following  remarks  by  Hammon  indicate  the 
nature  of  the  problem  :  * 

"In  places  where  irrigation  can  be  used,  it  will 
be  found  of  great  value  in  protecting  against  frost. 
Let  the  water  be  turned  on  until  the  soil  is 
thoroughly  moistened.  The  evaporation  of  the  water 
from  the  damp  soil  will  tend  to  raise  the  dew- 
point.  Since  evaporation  takes  place  near  the  sur- 
face this  method  is  especially  valuable  in  protecting 
low  plants  and  shrubs,  but  has  also  been  found 
very  valuable  in  protecting  citrous  groves  from  freez- 
ing weather.  The  irrigating  should  be  done  at  as 
early  an  hour  as  possible,  preferably  on  the  day 
preceding  the  night  when  frost  is  anticipated,  and 
the  ground  kept  thoroughly  wet  until  danger  from 
frost  is  passed." 

"Moist  soil,  or  localities  that  can  be  easily 
flooded  for  the  purpose  of  protection,  are  to  be 
preferred  to  dry  sections  of  otherwise  similar  loca- 
tion ;  for  the  evaporation  of  the  moisture  from  the 
soil,  on  dry,  cold  nights,  will  tend  to  raise  the 
dew-point  of  the  air  and  thus  diminish  the  proba- 
bility of  frost. 

"The  irrigation  of  the  hillsides  about  a  valley 
in  which  protection  is  desired,  and  the  growing 

*W.  H.  Hammon  (Forecast  official  United  States  Weather  Bureau),  in 
"Frost,  How  and  When  to  Prevent  Injury  Thereby;"  also  pub.  in  Cal.  Frt.  Gr., 
Feb.  8,  1896. 


108  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

thereon  of  plants  or  trees  with  a  large  amount  of 
foliage  will,  by  the  evaporation  from  the  soil  and 
verdure,  tend  to  raise  the  dew -point  of  the  surface 
air  as  it  flows  downward  into  the  valley." 

"A  modified  form  of  water  protection  which  is 
valuable  in  orchards  is  to  spray  the  trees  with 
water.  This  plan  is  probably  even  more  valuable 
in  protecting  from  freezing  citrous  fruits  and  other 
plants  which  are  not  injured  until  the  temperature 
has  fallen  several  degrees  below  the  freezing  point ; 
for,  in  these  cases,  the  wrater  will  tend  to  freeze 
before  the  fruit  is  injured,  and  in  freezing  will 
make  sensible  a  large  amount  of  heat,  thus  pre- 
venting further  cooling  of  the  air.  For  this  method 
to  be  successful  the  spraying  must  be  continued 
until  the  temperature  rises." 

Kedzie   writes    as   follows   upon   the   subject :  * 

"The  vapor  of  water  in  the  air  (and  clouds 
also)  prevents  the  escape  of  heat  by  radiation  from 
the  soil  and  consequent  cooling  of  the  ground  during 
the  night.  But  for  the  vapor  of  water  in  the  air, 
we  should  have  a  frost  every  night  in  the  year." 

"The  old  plan  of  a  tub  of  water  under  the 
fruit  tree,  and  a  rope  reaching  from  the  tub  into 
the  branches,  may  serve  a  useful  purpose.  The 
evaporation  from  the  water  in  the  tub  and  of  the 
water  carried  up  by  capillary  action  in  the  rope 
may  spread  the  protecting  folds  of  the  water  blanket 
over  the  tree.  Such  appliances,  while  of  some  use 
for  a  small  garden,  would  be  futile  for  a  farm. 

*  R.  C.  Kedzie,  "Forecast   of   Frost,"  Lansing,  Mich.,  1892. 


Spraying    to    Prevent   Frost.  109 

"  If  the  hoed  crops  of  the  farm  are  cultivated 
with  reference  to  securing  a  constant  supply  of 
moisture  in  the  upper  soil  —  to  draw  by  capillary 
action  of  the  soil  upon  the  reservoir  of  water  in 
the  subsoil,  and  at  the  same  time  keep  the  surface 
soil  in  such  condition  as  to  prevent  the  too  rapid 
dissipation  of  soil  moisture  —  the  fields  may  be 
saved  from  frost  by  a  covering  as  impalpable  as 
air  but  as  effectual  as  eider-down.  Here  is  a  con- 
servatism of  highest  importance  for  both  farmer 
and  fruit-grower. 

"On  the  night  of  Sept.  16,  1868,  the  Indian  corn 
in  Michigan  was  almost  entirely  killed  by  frost, 
only  a  few  fields  along  the  banks  of  rivers  or  the 
borders  of  lakes  being  spared.  In  these  fields  the 
corn-stalks  the  next  morning  were  dripping  with 
dew.  The  evaporation  from  river  or  lake  during 
this  dry  time  (only  one -eighth  inch  of  rain  in  two 
weeks)  had  moistened  the  air  in  their  vicinity  and 
stayed  off  the  frost.  Away  from  bodies  of  water 
the  air  was  very  dry  and  the  dew-point  low.  At 
the  Agricultural  College  the  temperature  in  the 
open  air  at  2  P.  M.  Sept.  16,  was  54°  F.,  the  wet 
bulb  marked  44°,  and  the  temperature  of  dew-point 
was  31°  F.  During  the  night  the  temperature 
sank  to  24°  F.  and  a  'black  frost'  was  the  result. 
If  the  air  over  the  whole  state  had  been  as  moist 
as  it  was  along  those  rivers  and  lakes,  a  heavy 
dew.  would  have  fallen  everywhere,  and  the  corn 
crop  spared. 

"This   immunity   from    frost   afforded   by   a   moist 


110  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

atmosphere  is  a  matter  of  great  importance.  I 
once  read  in  a  newspaper  of  the  experience  of  a 
farmer  who  feared  a  frost  on  his  growing  corn, 
and  who  cultivated  the  field,  stirring  up  a  moister 
soil,  and  thus  promoting  evaporation,  with  this 
result,  a  heavy  dew  and  a  rescued  crop,  while 
neighboring  fields  of  corn  were  cut  by  frost. 

"Ten  years  ago  some  beautiful  beds  of  coleus 
were  near  my  house.  Early  in  October  there  were 
threatenings  of  frost.  Every  evening  the  beds  were 
thoroughly  wet  down  with  cold  water,  and  the 
tender  coleus  plants  escaped  frost  while  other  plants 
near  by  were  killed.  At  this  time  I  found  my 
neighbor  one  evening  putting  blankets  over  his 
grape  vine  to  save  the  fruit  from  frost.  I  advised 
him  to  take  away  his  woolen  blankets  and  put  on 
the  Avater  blanket  by  a  thorough  drenching  with 
water.  This  was  done  and  the  grapes  were  saved. 

"This  use  of  water  to  guard  tender  plants  from 
frost  has  frequently  been  used  at  the  College,  and 
generally  with  good  results.  Strawberries  and 
grapes  in  blossom  may  be  saved  in  this  way  and 
with  little  trouble,  if  a  good  supply  of  water 
and  a  sprinkling  hose  are  available.  The  quick- 
witted farmer  or  gardener  will  find  many  ways  of 
using  water  for  this  purpose.  With  irrigation,  we 
might  defy  frost  during  the  growing  season." 

A  systematic  plan  for  evaporating  water  in 
orange  groves  in  California,  in  frosty  weather,  has 
been  proposed  by  Finkle.*  It  is  estimated  that 

i  Fniit-grower,  Feb.  8  ami  29,  1896. 


Smudges  for   Frosts.  Ill 

efficient  appliances  for  evaporating  water  could  be 
secured  for  about  $15  an  acre  for  the  first  cost. 
"The  amount  of  water  required  to  raise  the  temper- 
ature in  the  space  immediately  surrounding  a  ten- 
acre  tract  would  be  about  500  gallons.  This  I  have 
demonstrated  by  a  very  complete  mathematical  cal- 
culation based  on  experiments,  but  I  have  concluded 
that  it  would  require  about  four  or  five  attempts 
during  a  night,  in  order  to  supply  the  heat  radiat- 
ing into  space,  which  would  make  the  water  re- 
quired to  be  spent  for  a  ten -acre  grove,  about 
2,500  gallons.  *  *  *  *  The  fuel  required  is 
equally  certain  and  capable  of  calculation,  and  would 
be  about  one  barrel  of  oil,  costing  in  Los  Angeles 
50  cents." 

The  making  of  smudges. — Frosts  occur  on  clear 
nights.  This  is  because  the  earth's  heat  radiates 
quickly  into  space.  When  clouds  or  fogs  are  pres- 
ent, this  radiation  is  checked.  It  is  possible,  in 
many  cases,  to  supply  a  blanket  of  smoke  to  check 
radiation  ;  and  if  this  cover  also  contains  much 
vapor  of  water,  its  efficiency  will  thereby  be  greatly 
increased. 

The  use  of  smoke  or  smudges  to  protect  plants 
from  frost  is  an  old  practice.  It  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  secure  the  greatest  protection,  that  the 
smudge  be  dense  and  uniform,  and  especially  that 
it  be  maintained  until  all  danger  of  frost  is  past. 
The  best  results  are  nearly  always  secured  on  level 
lands,  where  the  smoke  will  not  drain  away,  and 
where  there  are  no  higher  lands  from  which  the 


112  The   Principles   of  Fruit  -growing. 

cold  air  may  settle.  The  best  smudges  are  usually 
made  by  burning  some  tar -like  substance.  In  any 
case,  a  smouldering  fire  is  much  better  than  a 
blaze.  The  fire  should  burn  slowly,  and  attendants 
should  keep  the  smudge  going  all  night.  Wet 
leaves,  manure,  saw-dust,  brush,  grass,  crude  oil,  and 
a  variety  of  materials  are  in  use  for  smudges. 
Some  grape -growers  cut  the  trimmings  into  short 
lengths  and  pile  them  in  the  vineyard,  expecting 
to  use  them  if  frost  should  threaten.  If  frost  does 
not  occur,  the  piles  are  burned  before  tillage  is  be- 
gun. Crude  petroleum  stored  in  barrel -like  tanks 
or  receptacles  is  sometimes  conducted  through  the 
plantation  in  pipes,  and  kettles  are  filled  (and 
ignited)  at  intervals.  Galloway*  says  that  a  mix- 
ture of  one  part  gas -tar  and  two  parts  saw -dust 
makes  an  excellent  material  for  a  smudge. 

Hammon  writes  as  follows  upon  the  use  of 
smudges:  "One  method  of  diminishing  radiation 
which  is  of  considerable  value,  especially  in  a  level 
country,  is  the  obscuring  of  the  sky  by  means  of 
the  smoke  of  smudge  fires.  This  method  has  been 
used  with  success  in  the  level  wheat  fields  of  the 
Dakotas  and  Manitoba,  and  should  be  of  about 
equal  value  in  the  broad  interior  valleys  of  Cali- 
fornia. It  is  not  so  successful  in  the  narrow  val- 
leys of  a  hilly  country,  for  while  it  retards  the 
radiation  of  heat  in  the  valley,  the  smoke  bank  is 
asually  of  low  elevation,  and  radiation  proceeds  un- 

*Year  Book,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1895,  155. 


Fuel  for   Smudges.  113 

interruptedly  from  the  hillsides,  whence  the  cooled 
air  flows  down  into  the  valley  underneath  the  smoke 
and  chills  the  plants.  Damp  straw,  tar,  turpentine, 
old  hay,  anything  that  will  result  in  the  greatest 
amount  of  smoke,  will  serve  as  fuel  for  these  fires. 
Have  the  fuel  on  the  ground  in  advance,  and  start 
the  fires  while  the  temperature  is  several  degrees 
above  the  danger  point. 

9*  It  is  believed  that  decidedly  better  results  will 
be  attained  if  damp  fuel  is  used,  or  if  the  fire  be 
sprayed  with  water,  for  this  will  add  vapor  to  the 
air  which,  in  condensing,  will  assist  in  checking 
radiation  by  obscuring  the  sky  with  fog  or  cloud, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  dew-point  will  be  raised 
to  the  temperature  of  the  air.  This  plan  should 
result  in  absolutely  preventing  injury  if  the  tem- 
perature be  much  above  the  danger  point,  for  the 
condensation  of  the  vapor  will  continue  to  distribute 
heat  throughout  the  space  occupied  by  the  mist. 
In  the  case  of  smudge  fires,  the  fire  warms  and 
expands  the  air  near  it,  causing  it  to  rise.  This 
establishes  an  upward  current  of  warm  air  from 
the  fire,  which  conducts  the  heat  of  the  fire  upward 
and  beyond  the  space  needing  protection,  and  cool 
air  flows  in  from  the  sides  to  take  its  place.  Thus 
the  heat  of  the  fire  has  but  little  effect  in  dimin- 
ishing the  intensity  of  the  frost,  almost  the  entire 
protection  being  gained  by  the  blanket  of  smoke 
produced.  By  spraying  the  fire,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  large  portion  of  the  heat  of  the  fire  is  consumed 
in  evaporating  the  water  which,  rising  from  the 


114  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

fire,  is  quickly  condensed  as  it  comes  in  contact 
with  the  surrounding  air.  The  heat  of  condensation 
thus  becomes  manifest  in  the  lower  air.  The  heat 
of  the  fire  is  thus  in  a  measure  trapped  and  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  lower  stratum  of  the  air, 
and  greatly  aids  in  protecting  the  plants.  Every 
quart  of  water  thus  evaporated  and  again  con- 
densed in  the  surrounding  air  wrould  be  sufficient 
to  raise  the  temperature  ten  degrees  throughout  a 
space  eighty  feet  square  and  deep." 

Smudges  have  long  been  used  in  the  vineyards 
of  parts  of  Europe.  A  sketch  of  some  of  the 
practices  may  add  to  the  interest  of  this  discussion.* 
"Protection  from  frost  is  often  secured  by  the  use 
of  smudges,  namely,  piles  or  bundles  of  such  stuff 
as  will  produce  a  great  smoke  while  burning.  They 
are  placed  around  the  field  and  lighted  at  the  ap- 
proach of  frost,  and  the  smoke  wrhich  arises  from 
trees  hanging  over  the  fields,  will,  after  the  man- 
ner of  clouds,  tend  to  keep  the  escaping  heat  near 
the  earth.  Pliny  is  said  to  have  recommended  the 
practice,  and  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century  it 
was  advised  by  the  great  French  agriculturist,  Olivier 
de  Serres,  who  wrote:  'Frost  is  repelled  from  the 
vine  if,  foreseeing  it,  you  produce  in  various  parts 
of  your  vineyard  thick  smokes  by  means  of  wet 
straw  or  half -rotten  manures.  These  sunder  the  air 
and  dissolve  the  nuisance.  *  *  *  *  Prepare 
them  in  good  season  by  building  here  and  there  in 
your  fields  little  piles  of  the  above  mentioned  matters, 

*  Prepared  by  my  student,  W.  S.  Andrews,  B.  A. 


Smudging   in   Europe.  115 

which  shall  be  lighted  without  delay  whenever  nec- 
essary.' The  practice  was  obligator y  in  at  least  one 
part  of  Germany  at  the  end  of  the  last  century. 
In  Mr.  *Heguilus'  pamphlet*  is  quoted  a  sets  of  regu- 
lations, issued  in  the  Bailiwick  of  Pforzheim  (Grand 
Duchy  of  Baden)  in  1796,  which  provides  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  communes  shall  be  divided  into 
companies  of  twelve  or  eighteen  men,  under  a  chief, 
to  operate  in  districts  assigned  them  by  an  official 
inspector,  and  provides  for  a  system  of  night  watch- 
men, whose  duty  it  was  to  give  warning  of  the 
necessity  for  lighting  the  fires.  'Whoever  of  the  in- 
habitants,' Article  VII.  of  these  regulations  reads, 
'shall  refuse  to  obey,  shall  be  prosecuted  before  the 
bailiff  and  receive  exemplary  punishment.'  Bous- 
singault  found  the  custom  among  the  Indians  of 
Peru,  who  inherited  it  from  the  pre- Spanish  civili- 
zation. 

"Various  substitutes  for  the  bundles  of  straw,  and 
such  primitive  smudges,  have  been  proposed,  and  a 
number  of  patented  compositions  are  on  the  French 
market.  Mr.  A.  Lippens,  of  Ghent,  in  a  letter, 
describes  several  of  them.  He  writes: 

:'  'Generally  they'  [?.  e.,  the  French  vine -grow- 
ers] 'use  three  bundles  of  small  fagots,  in  which 
they  insert  half -dried  hay  and  wet  straw.  A  line 
of  about  fifty  suffices  for  a  hundred  acres.'  The 
cost  is  about  ten  cents  an  acre.  'More  enlightened 
vine -growers  use  the  heavy  oils  of  coal  gas  from 

*Proc6de  Heguilus,«La  Vigne  et  les  gelees  printanieres."    Lodeve  (Herault), 
1891. 


116  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

which  the  pitch  has  been  taken.  About  four-fifths 
of  a  quart  is  placed  in  a  flat  iron -ware  dish.  Ten 
of  these  will  protect  a  vineyard  of  one  hundred 
acres;  twenty,  one  of  four  hundred  acres.  Tlie  dishes 
are  to  be  set  closer  together  at  the  two  ends  of 
the  line  than  in  the  middle,  and  a  supply  of  oil 
must  be  held  ready  in  reserve  in  case  that,  on  ac- 
count of  wind  'or  of  great  clearness  at  sunrise, 
another  firing  should  be  found  necessary.' 

"M.  Lestout,  of  Bordeaux,  has  an  invention,  as 
described  in  his  pamphlet,  as  follows:  'It  consists 
of  little  cubical  boxes,  twenty  centimeters  (a  little 
less  than  eight  inches)  square,  weighing  seven  kilos 
(fifteen  pounds  four  ounces),  and  costing  about 
seventy -five  centimes  (fifteen  cents)  apiece.  These  are 
placed  around  the  field  to  be  protected  at  a  distance 
of  ten  meters  (thirty -two  feet  ten  inches)  apart,  and 
are  easily  ignited  from  a  torch.  The  fire  emits  a 
black  smoke,  which  can  be  rendered  more  dense  by 
pouring  water  upon  the  smudges.  After  awhile,  the 
columns  of  smoke  fuse  into  a  thick  cloud,  which 
settles  upon  the  field,  and  elevates  the  temperature  by 
two  or  three  degrees.  The  fires  can  be  instantly  put 
out  by  an  extinguisher.'  M.  Lestout  declares  that 
three  hundred  smudges,  costing  two  hundred  and 
twenty -five  francs  (forty -five  dollars),  will  protect  a 
vineyard  three  thousand  meters  square  —  i.  e.,  one 
containing  nine  hundred  hectares  (about  two  thou- 
sand two  hundred  acres) — namely,  at  a  cost  of 
twenty -five  centimes  (five  cents)  per  two  and  one- 
half  acres. 


French    Smudqes.  117 


"The  system  of  Lagrolet  is  said  to  give  a  very 
dense,  heavy  and  persistent  cloud.  The  composition 
is  delivered  in  barrels,  the  contents  of  which  are  in 
a  solid  mass,  which  must  be  broken  up  into  pieces. 
Three  of  these  are  leaned  together  like  a  tripod,  in 
little  hollows  in  the  ground,  about  fifteen  yards  apart. 

"In  the  Audibert  system,  the  smudges  are  made 
by  a  mixture  of  tar,  creosote  and  sawdust  —  easily 
made  and  easy  to  use.  There  is  a  system  of  Tanzin, 
and  others,  the  details  of  which  it  is  not  necessary 
now  to  discuss. 

"Lestout  advertises  that  he  is  able  to  furnish  a 
system  of  devices  by  which  warning  is  given  of 
approaching  frost,  or  by  which  the  smudges  can  be 
fired  automatically,  when  the  mercury  descends  to 
a  certain  degree.  Heguilus  has  also  invented  a 
system  of  signals  and  lighters.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  dwell  upon  either  of  these,  further  than  to  re- 
mark in  passing  that  a  system  of  automatic  lighting 
will  not  fulfill  its  full  purpose  unless  it  is  so  ar- 
ranged that  it  will  light  the  fires  on  the  side  of  the 
field  from  which  the  air  is  moving.  Otherwise  one 
may  have  the  satisfaction  of  protecting  his  neigh- 
bor's vineyard  and  not  his  own.  To  secure  the 
maximum  protection,  the  proprietors  should  join  in 
a  common  effort  to  protect  a  whole  district  at  once, 
as  Lestout  recommends;  and  this,  it  appears  from 
his  pamphlet,  is  being  done  in  France.  He  gives 
the  statutes  of  a  syndicate  formed  in  1890  by  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  proprietors  in  the  district  of 
Moulis,  Medoc  —  which  make  pretty  complete  pro- 


118  The   Principles   of  Fruit- growing. 

vision  for  joint  action  —  and  quotes  a  letter  from 
their  treasurer,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  the  cost 
of  guaranteeing  two  million  vines  for  a  year  was 
one  and  a  quarter  francs  (twenty -five  cents)  per 
thousand  vines.  He  gives  a  letter  from  another 
syndicate  of  sixty  proprietors  at  Saussac,  in  the 
Medoc,  describing  a  successful  attempt  to  keep  the 
frost  from  their  vines  on  April  27,  1888.  The  wires 
attaching  the  vines  were  coated  with  ice.  It  was 
decided  to  light  the  smudges  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  when  one  hundred  and  thirty  were 
lighted,  placed  at  a  distance  apart  of  twelve  meters 
(a  little  under  forty  feet),  thus  extending  along  a 
line  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  meters  (not 
quite  a  mile)  long.  The  report  states  that  not  only 
the  vineyards,  but  everything  that  frost  ordinarily 
destroys,  fields  of  clover,  potatoes,  peas,  everything, 
in  fact,  covered  by  the  cloud,  from  the  line  of 
smudges  extending  back  to  a  depth  of  three  thou- 
sand meters  (say  two  and  three -fourth  miles),  cover- 
ing a  surface  of  five  hundred  and  fifty  hectares  (one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy -five  acres),  was 
saved,  while  the  fields  not  covered  by  the  cloud  suf- 
fered from  the  effects  of  the  frost  on  that  same  day. 
The  one  hundred  and  thirty  smudges  were  only  two- 
thirds  burnt,  and  the  cost  was  estimated  at  thirteen 
centimes  (less  than  three  cents)  a  hectare  (two  and 
one-half  acres).  Some  of  Lestout's  correspondents 
express  the  hope  that  a  law  will  be  passed  pro- 
viding that  when  two -thirds  of  the  proprietors  of 
a  district  elect  to  form  a  syndicate,  they  will  be 


Smoking    French    Vineyards. 


119 


able  to  assess  their  pro-rata  share  upon  such  inhabi- 
tants of  the  districts  as  refuse  to  join,  and  that 
these  assessments  may  be  collected  by  the  tax- 
gatherer,  a  provision  which  it  would  be  easier  to  in- 
troduce and  enforce  in  France,  perhaps,  than  in  this 
country."  Fig.  10  is  an  illustration  of  the  protec- 
tion of  a  vineyard,  from  Lestout.* 


Fig.  10.     Smudge  over  a  French  vineyard. 

Making  currents  of  air.  —  Since  frosts  occur  on 
still  nights,  it  is  sometimes  possible  to  prevent 
them  by  keeping  the  air  in  motion,  thereby  mixing 
the  air  and  preventing  any  part  of  it  from  lying 
on  the  plant  until  it  shall  have  become  frost -cold 
by  loss  of  radiated  heat.  In  small  areas,  as  in 
choice  gardens,  it  is  often  feasible  to  employ  a  man 
at  night  to  pass  back  and  forth  waving  a  large 

*The  Lestout  system  has  been  used  at  Cornell  with  satisfaction. 


120  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

fan.      A   windmill    may   sometimes    be    set    in    motion 
by  water-power  or  other  means. 

Heating  tin'  air. — It  is  sometimes  possible  to  di- 
rectly heat  the  air  by  means  of  large  fires,  although 
such  practice  does  not  seem  to  have  generally  met 
with  encouraging  results.  In  the  combined  smoke 
and  vapor  smudges  which  have  been  commended  by 
Hammon  (page  112),  the  heat  of  the  fire  may  add 
something  to  the  efficiency  of  the  protection.  The 
strong  currents  of  air  which  are  set  up  by  heavy 
fires  seldom  aid  in  the  protection  of  the  plantation. 
Yet  there  are  cases  in  which  hot  fires  have  saved 
trees  over  considerable  areas  from  heavy  frosts  and 
even  from  freezes.  One  of  the  best  experiences  in 
this  direction  is  reported  from  Florida  by  Davies.* 
In  the  freeze  of  February,  1895,  he  was  able  to 
raise  the  temperature  in  his  grove  from  18  degrees 
to  33  degrees  by  means  of  fires.  "On  the  north 
and  west  sides  of  your  grove  have  what  are  called 
conflagrations,  big  fires,  that  will  send  billows  of 
heat  rolling  between  and  over  your  tree  tops ;  and 
all  through  your  groves,  at  short  distances,  have 
small  fires  to  help  on  the  good  result."  Mr.  Davies 
recommends  that  orange  growers  "get  ready,  and  keep 
ready  all  the  time,  for  the  freeze.  Once  it  has  come, 
there  will  be  no  time  for  gathering  materials  for  fire. 
Your  fuel  must  be  on  hand,  and  plenty  of  it."  It 
is  then  necessary  to  keep  the  fires  burning  vigor- 
ously until  the  cold  spell  has  passed.  H.  R.  Ste- 

*D.   O.    Davies,    "Protecting    Orange    Groves   from   Cold,"  Fla.   State   Hort. 
Soe.    1896,    28. 


Foretelling   Frosts.  121 

vens,  on  the  same  occasion,  reports  success  in  sav- 
ing orange  trees  from  cold  by  burning  rosin,  secur- 
ing both  heat  and  smoke.  He  makes  cones  six 
inches  high  and  six  wide  of  common  hardware  paper 
which  has  received  a  coat  of  paint.  These  cones 
are  filled  with  cheap  rosin  and  set  near  the  trees. 
A  little  of  the  rosin  is  pulverized  on  top,  and  it 
is  then  set  on  fire  from  a  bit  of  oiled  waste  which 
is-  dropped  on  it.  Six  pounds  of  rosin  burn  about 
an  hour. 

THE    PREDICTION    OF    FROST. 

In  considering  the  means  of  predicting  frost,  it 
is  first  of  all  important  that  the  student  should  ob- 
tain a  clear  idea  of  the  usual  or  average  dates  of 
the  opening  and  closing  of  the  seasons  of  his  locality. 
Records  made  by  himself  upon  his  own  farm  from 
year  to  year  are  invaluable.  He  may  derive  very 
much  help,  also,  from  the  records  of  meteorological 
bureaus.  A  general  tabulation  of  spring  and  fall 
seasons  (see  pages  123  and  124)  may  be  suggestive 
in  this  connection  :  * 

"The  data  for  the  accompanying  tabulation  of 
the  killing  frosts  of  the  region  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  was  compiled  from  the  bulletins  and  an- 
nual reports  of  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau. 
The  table  is  divided  into  dates  for  spring  and  fall, 
and  these  in  turn  into  earliest,  latest,  and  average 

*Made  by  Alexander  D.  MacGillivray,  Assistant  in  Entomology,  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. 


122  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

dates.  By  'earliest'  is  not  meant  the  first  frost  in 
the  spring,  but  the  earliest  date  at  which  the  season 
lias  opened,  while  when  applied  to  the  fall  it  is  the 
first  actual  occurrence  of  a  frost.  By  'latest'  is 
meant  the  last  occurrence  of  a  killing  frost  in  the 
spring,  and  in  the  fall  the  latest  date  at  which  the 
season  has  closed.  The  average  date  is  in  most 
cases  the  mean  of  average  dates  given  by  the  Weather 
Bureau. 

"The  states  have  been  grouped  into  three  regions, 
the  states  of  the  coast  plain,  the  states  of  the  Ohio 
River  basin  and  its  adjuncts,  and  the  states  of  the 
Missouri  River  and  its  adjuncts.  The  first  thought 
in  separating  the  states  into  these  regions  was  that 
they  represented  distinct  faunal  regions,  and  that 
they  probably  represented  distinct  climatal  regions. 
This  has  been  sustained  in  most  part.  The  most 
marked  cases  are  eastern  New  York,  or  the  Hud- 
son Valley,  and  western  New  York,  the  former  be- 
longing to  the  coast  states  and  the  latter  to  the 
Ohio  valley  states.  There  is  a  difference  of  eleven 
days  in  the  spring  on  earliest  dates,  twelve  days 
on  latest,  and  two  days  on  average ;  Pennsylvania, 
which  falls  in  the  same  category,  in  the  spring, 
fifty -four  days  on  earliest,  eleven  days  on  latest,  and 
twenty  days  on  average  dates.  In  the  other  regions 
the  difference  is  not  so  marked,  and  yet  there  is 
some  difference  in  all  cases. 

"This  tabulation  is  of  interest  in  showing  the 
earliest  and  latest  dates  at  which  the  seasons  have 
opened,  for  some  of  the  data  is  based  on  records 


Records   of  Frosts. 


123 


TABULATION  OF  SEASONAL  CHANGES,  WITH   SPECIAL  REFERENCE 
TO  KILLING  FROSTS. 


COAST  STATES. 

SPRING.                                       FALL. 

Earliest. 

Latest. 

Average. 

Earliest. 

Latest. 

Average. 

Maine  

Mar.  24 

June  19 

April  30 

Sept.    4 

Nov.     2 

Sept.    4 

New  Hampshire. 

April  19 

June    9 

May      6 

Aug.     7 

Oct.    30 

Oct.      3 

Vermont  

April    8 

June    3 

May    10 

Aug.     5 

Nov.  16 

Sept.  20 

Massachusetts.  .  . 

Mar.  26 

May   28 

April  20 

Aug.     8 

Nov.  23 

Sept.  11 

Rhode  Island.... 

Mar.      8 

May      7 

Mar.  31 

Oct.     3 

Dec.  28 

Nov.    20 

Connecticut  

Mar.     3 

May   30 

April  28 

Sept.  10 

Nov.  16 

Oct.      2 

E.  New  York.... 

Mar.   15 

May    27 

April  23 

Oct.    11 

Nov.  18 

Oct.    28 

New  Jersey  

Feb.   27 

May   21 

April  13 

Sept.  10 

Nov.  21 

Oct.    10 

Pennsylvania  

Mar.     2 

May    22 

April    5 

Sept.  16 

Nov.    6 

Oct.    20 

Maryland 

Mar.      1 

May     9 

April    9 

Sept.  10 

Nov.  14 

Oct.      4 

Delaware                ,  Mn.r     19 

April  12 

April    8 

Oct.    23 

Oct.    31 

Oct.    25 

Virginia 

Feb.     5 

May    17 

April  11 

Aug.  26 

Dec.  10 

Oct.    13 

North  Carolina.  . 

Jan.     3 

May   24 

April    5 

Sept.    9 

Dec.   29 

Oct.    15 

South   Carolina.. 

Jan.      4 

May      8 

Feb.    23 

Oct.    15 

Dec.   15 

Oct.    25 

Georgia  

Feb.     2 

April  16 

Mar.   16 

Oct.      7 

Dec.   10 

Nov.    8 

Florida  

Dec.      7 

April    7 

Jan.    18 
Mar.  22 

Oct.    31 

Feb.     6 

Nov.     7 
Dec.  24 

Alabama 

Dec.  27 

April  25 

Mar.      6 

Oct.    12 

Dec.  26 

Oct.    28 

Mississippi  

Jan.    16 

April  10 

Feb.    23 

Oct.     8 

Dec.   27 

Oct.    30 

Louisiana 

Jan.    12 

Mar.  31 

Feb.   25 

Sept.  21 

Dec.   29 

Dec.     7 

Texas 

Dec.    16 

April  13 

Jan.    21 
Mar.   25 

[  Sept.  12 

Dec.   27 

Oct.   17 

124 


The   Principles   of    Fruit -growing. 


TABULATION   OF   SEASONAL   CHANGES,  WITH   SPECIAL   REFERENCE 
TO  KILLING  FROSTS. 


OHIO  VALLEY 

STATES. 

SPRING. 

FALL. 

Earliest. 

Latest,  i  Average. 

Earliest. 

Latest. 

Average. 

W.  New  York  .  .  . 

Mar.  26 

June     8   April  25 

Aug.    8 

Nov.  21 

Sept.  20 

Michigan  

Mar.     2 

June  29 

May     5 

Aug.     2 

Oct.    29   Sept.  18 

Wisconsin  

April    7  i  June  12 

May      1 

Aug.  22 

Nov.   13 

Sept.  25 

Pennsylvania.  .  .  . 

May    26   June    4 

April  25 

Aug.  30 

Nov.  14 

Sept.  28 

Ohio 

Feb.  24 

June  12 

April  20 

Sept.    2 

Nov.  15 

Sept.  30 

Indiana 

Mar.   23 

Mnv     98 

Anril  19. 

Sept.  14 

Dec.    24 

Oct.    15 

Illinois 

Feb.     28    -Time       1      Anril    1  .T 

Aug.     2 

Nov.  28 

Sept.  30 

West  Virginia... 

April    1 

May    17   April  20 

Sept.  22 

Nov.  22 

Oct.    25 

Kentucky 

Mar.    10 

May    30  '  A  r"-il    7 

Sept.  24 

Nov.  20 

Oct.    15 

Tennessee  

Jan.    25 

May    15 

April    1 

Sept.  14 

Nov.  29 

Oct.     15 

MISSOURI  VAL- 

LEY STATES. 

Minnesota  

April    6   June    8 

April  23 

Aug.    4 

Oct.    21 

Sept.  29 

Dakota  

Mar.  15    June  30  ;  May    15    Aug.    4 

Oct.    28 

Sept.  10 

Iowa  

Mar.     4 

June    2    April  20 

Aug.    8 

Oct.    28 

Sept.  20 

Nebraska 

Mar.   28 

June     7    April  20 

Aug.  30 

Nov.     9 

Oct.    10 

Missouri 

Feb.   27 

May   26    Anril  IP; 

Sept.    2 

Nov.  19 

Oct.      9 

Kansas 

Mar.    16 

May    22 

April  12 

Sept.    6 

Nov.     9 

Oct.      5 

Colorado 

Mar.  29 

June  28 

Aug.     7 

Oct.    26 

Sept.    5 

Arkansas  

Feb.    22 

April  28  '  Mar.   27 

Oct.      6 

Dec.     4 

Oct.    27 

Indian  Territory. 

Feb.     5 

May    23  !>  Mar.  22 

Sept.  30 

Dec.      7 

Oct.    20 

1 

Records  of  Frost.  125 

of  fifty  years  or  more.;  in  showing  the  effects  of 
adjacent  bodies  of  water ;  in  the  effects  of  topog- 
raphy, and  in  situation. 

"The  effect  of  topography  is  shown  well  in  the 
cases  already  cited,  eastern  and  western  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania.  It  is  equally  true  of  Virginia 
and  West  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina  and  Ten- 
nessee. The  effect  of  situation  is  shown  markedly 
in  the  case  of  Maine,  which  is  north  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Vermont,  and  yet  earlier.  Georgia's 
season  opens  twenty -one  days  later  than  South  Car- 
olina's, and  ten  days  later  than  Alabama's,  while 
North  Carolina  is  ten  days  later." 

The  liability  of  any  particular  locality  to  injury 
from  late  spring  or  early  fall  frosts  is  capable  of 
being  expressed  in  charts  or  by  other  graphic 
means.  Very  good  records  of  the  habitual  frosti- 
ness  of  any  place  could  be  made  by  an  army  of 
careful  growers  who  had  neither  a  barometer  nor  a 
thermometer.  Let  us  suppose,  for  instance,  that  the 
peach -growers  of  a  certain  geographical  area  were 
to  make  observations  for  a  number  of  years  upon 
the  relative  synchronisms  of  late  frosts  and  bloom- 
ing-time, a  subject  which  is  of  the  most  vital  im- 
portance to  every  grower  of  the  tender  fruits.  The 
tabulation  of  these  observations  would  enable  us  to 
construct  two  series  of  curves,  which  would  indicate 
at  a  glance  the  comparative  safety  of  any  station 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  given  crop.  We  will 
suppose  that  observations  have  been  taken  for  a 
number  of  years  by  various  persons  at  seventeen 


126  The   Principles   of  Fruit -groiving. 


Frost   and   Blooming    Time.  127 

closely  connected  stations,  represented  by  the  letters 
in  the  margin  of  the  plate  (page  126).  One  curve 
represents  the  date  of  the  last  killing  frost,  and 
the  other  the  date  of  the  opening  of  the  peach 
flowers.  Wherever  the  frost  line  lies  beyond  the 
bloom  line,  as  in  the  first  five  stations,  peach -grow- 
ing is  impossible.  When  it  lies  at  the  left,  peach- 
growing  is  possible,  and  the  industry  is  safe  in 
proportion  as  the  two  lines  diverge.  At  the  stations 
I,  K,  and  O  peach -growing  may  be  considered  to 
be  far  beyond  danger  of  late  frosts.  These  tabula- 
tions would  be  valuable,  of  course,  in  proportion  as 
they  include  a  minute  record  of  every  farm  in  the 
given  territory ;  but  even  a  somewhat  superficial 
series  of  observations  would  possess  great  value  if 
accurately  made,  as  indicating  the  probable  influence 
of  local  climate  upon  the  given  industry.  If  lines 
tend  to  converge,  or  if  the  frost  line  crosses  beyond 
the  bloom  line,  there  is  indication,  at  least,  that 
safe  peach  lands  are  few  in  those  localities.  The 
information  which  these  records  ask  could  be  well 
ascertained  from  observations  upon  a  few  peach 
trees  here  and  there  long  before  any  general  experi- 
ment of  cultivation  had  been  tried. 

This  method  of  study  is  a  part  of  the  science 
of  phenology,  or  that  science  which  treats  of  the 
periodical  phenomena  of  animals  and  plants,  as  the 
migrations  and  nesting  of  birds,  awakening  of  the 
frogs,  and  the  dates  of  blooming  and  leafing  of 
plants.  Such  records  are  more  accurate  measures  of 
seasonal  climates  than  instrumental  measurements 


128  The   Principles    of  Fruit -growing. 

are.  Some  day  the  country  will  have  charts  of  iso- 
phenal  lines  as  well  as  of  its  isotherms. 

Local  studies  of  this  type  must  eventually  come 
to  be  an  important  province  of  meteorological 
bureaus.  Every  state  must  ultimately  be  completely 
charted  not  only  in  respect  to  liability  to  frosts,  but 
to  other  incidents  of  local  climate  and  weather. 

The  most  reliable  prediction  of  frost  is  given  by 
readings  from  the  wet-  and  dry -bulb  thermometer, 
which  measures  the  moisture  in  the  air.  Kedzie 
gives  the  following  description  of  this  thermometer :  * 
"The  sling  psychrometer  is  a  formidable  name,  but 
a  simple  instrument.  It  consists  essentially  of  two 
thermometers,  the  bulb  of  one  being  left  naked  and 
kept  dry,  the  bulb  of  the  other  being  covered  with  a 
thin  layer  of  cloth  which  is  kept  wet  ('wet -bulb') 
during  the  time  of  an  observation.  By  placing  these 
'dry -bulb'  and  'wet -bulb'  thermometers  side  by 
side  and  comparing  their  readings,  we  may  determine 
the  amount  of  cold  produced  by  evaporation,  and  thus 
measure  the  relative  dryness  of  the  air.  If  there  is 
no  evaporation  the  two  thermometers  will  show  the 
same  temperature,  but  any  evaporation  will  produce 
cold,  and  the  more  rapid  the  evaporation  the  greater 
the  reduction  of  temperature.  The  drier  the  air  the 
more  rapid  the  evaporation,  and  the  greater  the  cold 
caused  by  evaporation.  The  psychrometer,  or  the 
'wet-  and  dry-bulb  thermometer,'  affords  the  means 
for  determining  the  amount  of  moisture  in  the  air, 

*  See  also  Horticulturist's  Rule-Book,  4th  ed.,  222. 


The    Sling   Psychrometer.  129 

and  the  temperature  of  complete  saturation  or  dew- 
point,  by  measuring  the  reduction  of  temperature  by 
evaporation. 

"A  sling  psychrometer  can  easily  be  made,  as  fol- 
lows :  For  the  frame,  take  a  board  eighteen  inches 
long,  two  inches  wide,  and  one -half  inch  thick,  with 
a  hole  bored  in  one  end  to  hang  the  apparatus  on  a 
nail  when  not  in  use.  Get  two  all -glass  thermom- 
eters with  cylindrical  bulbs,  and  the  degrees  Fahren- 
heit engraved  on  the  stem.  Cover  the  bulb  of  one 
thermometer  with  a  thin  piece  of  cotton  cloth, 
fastening  it  securely  by  a  thread.  When  this  cloth 
covering  is  wet  with  water  and  exposed  to  evapo- 
ration in  the  air,  it  constitutes  the  'wet -bulb  ther- 
mometer ' ;  the  other  thermometer  has  no  covering 
on  its  bulb,  is  not  wet  at  any  time,  and  constitutes 
the  'dry -bulb  thermometer'. 

"Securely  lash  the  thermometers  on  opposite  edges 
of  the  narrow  board,  leaving  the  graduations  on 
them  plainly  in  sight,  and  the  bulbs  extending  a 
short  distance  below  the  end  of  the  board.  To 
use  the  instrument,  wet  the  cloth -covered  bulb  with 
water,  leaving  the  other  bulb  dry,  and  then  swing 
the  apparatus  freely  through  the  air  for  three  to 
five  minutes,  or  until  the  wet -bulb  thermometer 
ceases  to  fall  in  temperature,  and  then  read  the 
temperature  of  each  thermometer.  Unless  the  air 
is  saturated  with  moisture  the  wet -bulb  will  always 
show  a  lower  temperature  than  the  dry -bulb.  Sub- 
tract the  degrees  of  wet -bulb  from  those  of  the 
dry -bulb,  and  the  remainder  will  show  the  degrees 


130 


The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 


of  cold  produced  by  evaporation.  Suppose  the  dry 
bulb  marks  65°  F.,  and  the  wet  bulb  56°,  then 
6r,°  -  56°  ==  9°,  or  the 
cold  produced  by  evapora- 
tion. This  swinging  and 
reading  of  the  pyschrom- 
eter  are  done  in  the  shade 
in  the  open  air  when  the 
temperature  of  dew-point 
is  sought ;  it  should  be 
done  rapidly  and  the  ther- 
mometers read  promptly 
The  dry -bulb  gives  the 
temperature  of  the  open 
air,  and  dew-point  is  de- 
termined by  reference  to 
tabulated  figures."  A  com- 
mon form  of  psychrometer 
is  shown  in  Fig.  11,  but 
inasmuch  as  this  has  a  cup 
of  water  connected  with 
the  wet-bulb,  it  is  not  so 
handy  for  whirling.  Such 
an  instrument  may  be 
fanned  instead  of  whirled. 
Hammon  gives  the  fol- 
lowing directions  and  fig- 
Fig.  11.  One  form  of  wet-  and  dry  ures  for  determining  the 

bulb  thermometer. 

dew-point  :  To     obtain 

the    dew -point   from    the    wet -and   dry -bulb    hygrom- 
eter   or    psychrometer,     moisten    the    muslin     on    the 


Findhty    the    Dew-point. 


131 


wet -bulb  and  then  whirl  or  fan  the  instrument, 
when  the  temperature  will  fall.  Continue  the  ven- 
tilation until  the  wet-bulb  thermometer  ceases  to  fall, 
when  the  two  thermometers  should  be  read.  Subtract 
the  reading  of  the  wet -bulb  thermometer  from  that  of 
the  dry.  Find  this  difference  in  the  column  at  the 
left  of  the  table.  The  dew-point  will  then  be 
found  at  the  intersection  of  the  line  opposite  this 
difference  and  the  column  which  is  headed  by  the 
number  nearest  the  air  temperature  (dry -bulb 
reading).  Examples  are  given  below: 

"Dry-bulb  thermometer 55° 

Wet-bulb  thermometer 44° 

Difference 11° 

Dew-point  from  table 30°" 

The  dew-point  is  the  temperature  at  which  the  deposition  of  dew  be- 
gins. Frost  is  formed  when  the  dew-point  and  freezing-point  coincide 
(that  is,  at  32°).  The  nearer  the  dew-point  approaches  the  freezing-point 
at  nightfall,  the  greater  is  the  danger  of  frost  during  the  night.  When 
the  dew-point  is  10°  above  freezing-point  at  nightfall  (42°),  there  is  little 
danger  of  frost;  but  when  it  is  less  than  this,  frost  may  be  expected. 

"DEW-POINT  TABLE. 


Difference  of  reading  of 
dry  and  wet  bulbs. 

Temperature  of  Air  —  Fahrenheit. 

15° 

20= 

25°  30°  35°  40°  45°  50° 

55° 

60° 

(l.V 

70a 

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13   * 

14..  .        

15  

CHAPTER   III. 

THE    TILLAGE    OF    FRUIT    LANDS. 

THE  study  of  the  evolution  of  the  ideas  respect- 
ing the  tillage  of  the  soil  opens  one  of  the  most 
interesting  chapters  in  history.  The  subject  is  all 
the  more  suggestive  because  tillage  is  such  a  com- 
monplace and  almost  universal  labor  that  no  one 
thinks  of  it  as  having  had  a  history.  Yet  the 
practice  of  the  simple  stirring  of  the  soil  has  been 
slowly  evolved,  like  all  other  methods  and  institutions, 
through  a  long  period  of  time,  and  as  the  result  of 
many  forces  which  were  unobserved  or  even  unknown 
at  the  time.  We  think  of  tillage  as  a  custom  ;  and 
if  one  considers  the  condition  of  farming  at  the 
present  moment,  he  would  seem  to  be  warranted 
in  such  an  association,  for  a  custom  is  a  habit 
which  is  not  suggested  by  reason  and  inquiry.  Per- 
liaps  the  only  reason  which  most  persons  could  give 
for  the  tillage  of  the  land  is  that  they  are  obliged 
to  do  it.  It  would  seem  to  be  the  simplest  and  dull- 
est thing  to  till  the  soil.  It  is  simply  the  driving  of 
the  animal  and  the  holding  of  the  plow,  or  taking 
care  that  the  harrow  scarifies  the  entire  surface  ;  or 
it  may  be  only  the  rtubborn  wielding  of  the  hoe  or 
rake.  This  view  of  the  matter  is  wholly  correct 

(133) 


134  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

when  one  thinks  of  tillage  only  as  labor.  The  work 
must  be  done  because,  somehow,  plants  thrive  best 
when  it  is  done  ;  but  the  sooner  it  is  done  and  the 
less  there  is  of  it  the  easier,  and  what  is  the  easier  is 
the  better. 

It  wras,  no  doubt,  some  such  mind  as  this  which 
dominated  the  rude  farmers  in  the  early  history  of 
the  race  Throughout  all  the  years  until  now — and, 
unfortunately,  too  often  even  now — tillage  has  been 
a  mere  necessity  forced  upon  the  husbandman  by  a 
most  ungenerous  Nature.  The  first  tillage  probably 
arose  from  necessity  of  breaking  the  earth  to  get 
the  seed  into  it ;  and  the  second  step  was  the  dig- 
ging out  of  other  plants  which  interfered  with  its 
growth.  In  many  cases,  still  another  hardship  was 
imposed,  for  the  earth  must  be  disturbed  to  get  the 
crop  out  of  it.  These  three  necessities  served  to  keep 
the  surface  of  tamed  lands  in  a  greater  or  less  state 
of  agitation  until  it  finally  came  to  be  seen  that 
there  is  something  in  the  practice  which  causes  plants 
to  thrive  wholly  aside  from  the  lessening  of  the  con- 
flict with  weeds.  But  it  is  only  in  the  last  century 
or  two  that  there  appears  to  have  been  any  serious 
attempt  to  discover  why  this  age-long  practice  of 
stirring  the  soil  is  such  a  decided  benefit  to  plants. 

One  reason  why  the  art  of  tillage  has  made  such 
slow  progress  is  because  it  seems  to  lie  wholly  con- 
trary to  the  operations  of  nature.  In  very  recent 
years  it  has  been  vehemently  proclaimed  that  the 
proper  treatment  of  an  orchard  is  to  plant  it  thick 
and  to  allow  the  leaves  and  litter  to  cover  the 


Forest   and    Orchard    Unlike.  135 

ground,  wholly  omitting  the  stirring  of  the  soil,  for 
this  is  the  method  of  the  forest ;  and  forest  lands 
increase  in  fertility  from  year  to  year  and  the  mois- 
ture is  held  in  them  as  in  a  sponge.  The  reason- 
ing is  plausible.  There  are  two  ways  of  testing  it, — 
by  experience  and  by  reflection.  It  needs  only  to 
be  suggested  that  the  experiment  has  been  tried,  and 
is  now  trying,  upon  an  extended  scale,  as  a  large 
part  of  the  apple  orchards  of  the  country  testify. 
The  chief  beneficiaries  of  the  experiment  are  the 
bugs,  mice  and  fungi,  all  of  which  would  vote  the 
method  a  success.  The  reasons  why  the  forest 
method  is  successful  are  because  the  trees  stand  so 
thickly  that  the  earth  is  protected  from  the  drying 
effect  of  sun  and  winds,  the  forest  cover  is  so  ex- 
tensive as  to  produce  a  climate  of  its  own,  all  the 
product  is  returned  to  the  soil,  and  there  is  no 
haste.  In  every  one  of  these  essentials  the  orchard 
is  unlike  the  forest.  Those  writers  who  urge  that 
the  orchard  be  planted  thick  enough  to  imitate  the 
forest  condition,  should  also  make  it  clear  how  the 
insects  and  fungi  are  to  be  kept  at  bay,  or  how 
acceptable  fruit  can  be  obtained  upon  trees  which 
are  unpruned  and  unthinned.  The  objects  to  be 
attained  in  the  forest  and  in  the  orchard  are  wholly 
unlike.  In  one  case  it  is  the  perpetuation  of  the 
species,  and  there  results  a  severe  conflict  for  exist- 
ence, in  which  more  plants  die  than  reach  maturity; 
in  the  other  it  is  the  securing  of  an  abnormal  pro- 
duct of  the  plant,— a  product  which  can  be  kept  up 
to  its  abnormal  or  artificial  development  only  by 


136  The    Principles    of  Fruit -growing. 

abnormal  conditions,— and  the  struggle  for  existence 
is  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms,  for  it  is  desired  that 
not  a  single  plant  be  lost.  It  is  simply  because  it 
is  impossible  to  imitate  the  forest  conditions  that 
the  forest  methods  cannot  be  followed  in  fruit 
plantations. 

Now  that  we  have  come  to  understand  why  and 
how  it  is  that  the  stirring  of  the  soil  makes  plants 
thrive,  the  old-time  drudgery  of  tillage  becomes  the 
most  important,  the  most  suggestive,  and  therefore 
the  most  difficult  to  properly  understand  and  perform, 
of  all  purely  farming  operations.  If  we  cannot  have 
the  protection  of  the  forest  cover  and  the  forest 
mulch,  we  must  make  a  mulch  for  the  occasion  ; 
and  if  we  wait  impatiently  for  results,  we  must  un- 
lock the  granaries  of  the  soil  more  rapidly  than 
nature  does.  We  must  till  for  tillage's  sake,  and 
not  wait  to  be  forced  into  the  operation — as  men 
have  generally  been — by  the  weeds  ;  yet,  whilst  we 
have  outgrown  the  need  of  weeds,  we  should  not 
despise  them,  but  remember  them  kindly  for  the 
good  which  they  have  done  the  race.  They  have 
been  an  inexorable  priesthood,  holding  us  to  duty 
whilst  we  did  not  know  what  duty  was,  and  they 
still  stand  ready  to  extend  their  paternal  offices. 

Coming,  now,  to  the  specific  question  of  the  till- 
age of  fruit  lands,  one  is  struck  with  the  fact  that 
all  kinds  of  fruits  are  commonly  more  productive 
than  the  apple ;  and  a  moment's  reflection  brings 
to  mind  the  fact  that  the  apple  alone  is  the  fruit 
which  is  commonly  raised  in  sod,  and  which  ever}'- 


Old   and   New    Methods.  137 

where  receives  the  least  attention.  The  presumption 
is  at  once  raised,  therefore,  that  this  sod  and  neg- 
lect are  in  some  vital  way  associated  with  the  de- 
clining productiveness  of  apple  trees.  In  order  to 
put  ourselves  right  upon  the  question,  we  must  first 
of  all  ascertain,  if  we  can,  why  the  apple  is  of  all 
fruits  the  most  neglected. 

My  older  readers  will  recall  the  fact  that  until 
recent  years  the  effort  of  the  farmer  has  been  di- 
rected to  the  growing  of  hay,  grain  and  stock. 
Previous  to  this  generation,  the  growing  of  fruit 
has  been  a  matter  of  secondary  or  even  incidental 
importance.  A  bit  of  rocky  or  waste  land,  or  an 
odd  corner  about  the  buildings,  was  generally  given 
over  to  the  apple  orchard,  and  if  the  trees  received 
any  attention  whatever  it  was  after  all  other  de- 
mands of  the  farm  had  been  satisfied.  All  this  was 
particularly  true  of  the  farming  previous  to  the 
second  third  of  this  century,  and  the  apple  and 
standard  pear  orchards  of  the  country  still  record 
the  old  method.  It  has  required  at  least  a  genera- 
tion of  men  in  which  to  thoroughly  establish  any 
new  agricultural  system,  and  the  time  is  not  yet 
fully  arrived  for  the  passing  out  of  the  old  orchards 
and  the  coming  in  of  the  new.  In  other  fruits  than 
apples  and  standard  pears,  the  generations  of  trees 
are  comparatively  short-lived,  and  those  fruits  sooner 
feel  the  effect  of  new  agricultural  teachings.  Vine- 
yards, and  orchards  of  plums,  dwarf  pears,  apricots, 
cherries  and  quinces,  have  mostly  come  into  exist- 
ence along  with  the  transition  movement  from  the 


138  The    Principles    of   Fruit-growing. 

old  to  the  new  farming,  and  they  have  been  planted 
seriously,  with  the  expectation  of  profit,  the  same  as 
the  grain  crops  have.  Peaches  had  passed  out  in 
most  parts  of  the  east,  and  they  are  now  coming 
in  again  with  the  new  agriculture.  At  the  present 
time,  men  buy  farms  for  the  sole  purpose  of  raising 
fruit,  a  venture  which  would  have  been  a  novelty 
fifty  years  ago ;  but  the  habit  of  imitation  is  so 
strong  that  the  apple  planter  patterns  after  the  old 
orchards  which  were  grown  under  another  and  now 
a  declining  system  of  agriculture,  and  many  of 
which  are  still  standing  on  the  old  farms  of  the 
northeastern  states.  The  apple  orchard,  therefore, 
upon  the  one  hand,  and  the  well -tilled  vineyard  upon 
the  other,  are  the  object  lessons  which  illustrate 
the  faults  of  non- tillage  and  the  gains  of  tillage. 


THE     PHILOSOPHY    OF     TILLAGE.* 

Tillage  may  be  defined  as  the  stirring  of  the  soil 
for  the  direct  purpose  of  making  plants  thrive.  Its 
immediate  effect  is  to  ameliorate  and  modify  the  soil 
itself,  but  its  secondary  effects  are  those  which  are 
desired,  and  which  are  also  intimately  concerned  in 
the  welfare  of  the  plant.  For  example,  tillage  is 
capable  of  lessening  the  capillarity  of  the  surface 
soil,  and  from  this  there  may  result  a  saving  of 
moisture  from  evaporation,  and  it  is  the  moisture 

*The  reader  who  desires  the  fullest  and  best  exposition  of  tillage  in  its  va- 
rious aspects  should  consult  "The  Soil,"  by  King,  and  "The  Fertility  of  the 
Land,"  by  Roberts. 


Benefits   of  Tillage.  139 

which  is  sought.  For  practical  purposes,  however,  it 
is  unnecessary  to  keep  this  distinction  in  mind,  and 
we  may  classify  the  benefits  of  tillage  under  three 
general  heads,  arranging  them  approximately  in  their 
order  of  importance  to  the  fruit-grower : 

1.  Tillage    improves    the    physical    condition  of    the 
land, 

(a)  By  fining  the   soil,  and    thereby  presenting 
greater  feeding  surface  to  the  roots; 

(b)  By    increasing    the    depth    of  the    soil,  and 
thereby  giving  a   greater  foraging  and   root- 
hold  area  to  the  plant; 

(c)  By      warming     and     drying     the     soil     in 
spring ; 

(d)  By    reducing    the    extremes  of  temperature 
and  moisture. 

2.  Tillage  may  save  moisture, 

(e)  By  increasing  the  water -holding  capacity  of 
the  soil; 

(/)   By  checking  evaporation. 

3.  Tillage  may  augment  chemical  activities, 

(g)  By  aiding  in  setting  free  plant-food; 

(A)  By  promoting  nitrification; 

(t)   By  hastening  the   decomposition   of  organic 

matter; 
0)   By     extending    these     agencies  (g,  h,  i)  to 

greater  depths  of  the  soil. 

The  simple  statements  of  these  offices  of  tillage  is 
sufficient  for  the  present  occasion,  except,  perhaps, 
in  respect  to  the  improving  of  the  texture  of  the 


140  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

soil  and  the  conservation  of  the  moisture,  for  if  the 
cultivator  is  skilled  in  these  latter  matters,  all  the 
other  benefits  will  follow. 

The  texture  of  the  soil. — The  texture  or  physical 
condition  of  the  soil  is  nearly  always  more  important 
than  its  mere  richness  in  plant -food.  That  is,  the 
productivity  of  land  is  not  determined  wholly,  and 
perhaps  not  even  chiefly,  by  the  amount  of  fertiliz- 
ing elements  which  it  contains.  This  is  particularly 
true  of  all  lands — like  the  clays — which  tend  to  be- 
come and  to  remain  hard  and  unpleasant  if  left  to 
themselves.  Plant-food  is  of  no  consequence  unless 
the  plant  can  use  it.  The  hardest  rocks  may  con- 
tain various  plant -foods  in  abundance,  and  yet  plants 
cannot  grow  on  them.  A  stick  of  wood  contains 
potassium  and  phosphorus  and  nitrogen,  and  yet 
nothing  grows  upon  it  until  it  begins  to  decay.  A 
hundred  pounds  of  potash  in  a  stone -hard  lump  is 
worth  less  to  a  given  plant  than  an  ounce  in  a 
state  of  fine  division.  Soils  which  the  chemist  may 
pronounce  rich  in  plant -foods  may  grow  poor  crops.* 
In  other  words,  the  chemist  can  not  tell  what  a  soil 
will  produce;  he  can  only  tell  what  it  contains. 

All  this  is  not  surprising,  when  we  come  to  think 
of  it.  Every  good  farmer  knows  that  a  hard  and 
lumpy  soil  will  not  grow  good  crops,  no  matter  how 
much  plant -food  it  may  contain.  A  clay  soil  which 
has  been  producing  good  crops  for  any  number  of 
years  may  be  so  seriously  injured  by  one  injudi- 

*  See,  for  example,  Bull.  119,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


Fertilizers   vs.    Tillage.  141 

cious  plowing  in  a  wet  time  as  to  ruin  it  for  the 
growing  of  crops  for  two  or  three  years.  The  in- 
jury lies  in  the  modification  of  its  physical  texture, 
not  in  the  lessening  of  its  fertility.  A  sandy  soil 
may  also  be  seriously  impaired  for  the  growing  of 
any  crop  if  the  humus,  or  decaying  organic  matter, 
is  allowed  to  burn  out  of  it.  It  then  becomes  leachy, 
it  quickly  loses  its  moisture,  and  it  becomes  ex- 
cessively hot  in  bright,  sunny  weather.  Similar  re- 
marks may  be  applied  to  all  soils,  although  they 
are  not  equally  true  of  all. 

If  these  remarks  are  true,  then  it  follows  that 
it  is  useless  to  apply  commercial  fertilizers  to  lands 
which  are  not  in  proper  physical  condition  for  the 
very  best  growth  of  crops.  If  potash,  for  example, 
were  applied  to  hard  lumps  of  clay,  it  could  not  be 
expected  to  aid  in  the  growth  of  plants,  because 
plants  cannot  grow  on  such  a  place.  If  the  same 
quantity  were  applied  to  mellow  soil,  however,  the 
greater  part  of  it  would  be  presented  to  the  roots 
of  plants  at  once,  and  its  effects  would  no  doubt 
be  apparent  in  the  season's  crop.  The  improvement 
of  the  texture  of  the  soil  is  not  only  a  means  of 
presenting  the  plant -foods  to  the  roots  of  plants  and 
of  uniformly  distributing  what  fertilizer  may  be  ap- 
plied, but  it  is  also  a  direct  means  of  conserving 
moisture  and  of  hastening  chemical  activities. 

The  soil  is  a  vast  storehouse  of  plant -food,  and 
the  first  effort  of  the  husbandman  should  be  to 
make  this  store  available  to  plants.  "Men  take  him 
for  a  foole  or  a  mad  man  that,  having  store  of 


142  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

wealth  in  his  trunck,  doth  yet  complain  of  want. 
What  though  the  key  be  rusty  for  want  of  use  ? 
tis  easier  to  get  that  scoured,  then  to  obtaine  such 
another  treasure.  And  surely  I  may  upon  most  sure 
grounds  say,  that  our  Native  Count  re  y,  hath  in  its 
bowels  an  (even  almost)  infinite,  and  inexhaustible 
treasure ;  much  of  which  hath  long  laiue  hid,  and 
is  but  new  begun  to  be  discovered.  It  may  seem  a 
large  boast  or  meer  Hyperbole  to  say,  we  enjoy  not, 
know  not,  use  not,  the  one  tenth  part  of  that 
plenty  or  wealth  &  happinesse,  that  our  Earth  can, 
and  (Ingenuity  and  Industry  well  encouraged)  will 
(by  Gods  blessing)  yield."* 

The  moisture  of  the  soil. — Lands  oftener  need 
moisture  in  the  growing  season  than  they  need  fer- 
tilizers. The  fact  is  that  they  generally  need  both, 
if  the  largest  and  best  crops  are  to  be  secured. 
Drought  seems  to  most  people  to  be  one  of  those 
calamities  in  which  there  are  no  secondary  or  inci- 
dental blessings,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
lesson  of  the  recurring  droughts  has  not  yet  been 
learned  by  the  great  body  of  farmers.  The  one 
remedy  which  occurs  to  most  persons  is  irrigation, 
and  yet  there  is  sufficient  rainfall  in  most  parts  of 
the  fruit-growing  regions  of  the  country  to  provide 
all  the  needs  of  large  crops.  The  difficulties  are 
that  this  rainfall  comes  when  it  seems  not  to  be 
wanted,  and  very  much  of  it  is  allowed  to  escape 
by  evaporation.  The  truth  is  that  the  heavy  rainfall 

*  Samuel    Hartlib,  "An    Essay    for    Advancement    of   Husbandry-Learning." 
London,  1631,  p.  3. 


Saving   the    Water.  143 

usually  comes  at  the  best  season,  for  it  is  the  period 
of  inactivity,  when  the  work  of  the  farmer  and  the 
growth  of  the  plants  are  least  interfered  with.  If 
we,  in  the  east  and  south,  were  perfectly  certain  that 
we  should  have  no  rain  from  June  until  September, 
we  should  carefully  husband  the  rainfall  of  the 
earlier  months,  and  we  should  suffer  little  loss ;  but 
now  that  we  expect  rain  all  summer  long,  we  neg- 
lect the  saving  of  the  early  rains,  and  gamble  upon 
the  chance  of  having  a  rain  when  we  shall  need 
it.  It  often  happens  that  the  dry  countries  suffer 
least  for  water! 

How  shall  we  save  the  water?  By  holding  it  in 
the  earth.  If  the  earth  is  finely  divided  and  yet 
compact,  the  capillary  pores  or  interstices  will  hold 
enormous  quantities  of  water.  If,  then,  we  break 
up  these  interstices  next  the  atmosphere,  we  shall 
prevent  the  water  from  passing  off  by  evaporation. 
The  whole  subject  of  the  saving  of  moisture,  there- 
fore, falls  into  two  means,  the  catching  and  holding 
of  it  (or  the  making  of  a  reservoir),  and  the  pre- 
vention of  evaporation.  It  is,  therefore,  a  question 
of  plowing  and  then  of  surface  tilling.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  how  futile  it  may  be  to  try  to  save  the 
water  by  beginning  tillage  late  in  the  season,  when 
a  drought  is  threatened.  If  the  land  has  not  been 
well  prepared,  there  may  be  no  water  to  save  by 
that  time.  It  may  either  have  run  through  the 
land  into  the  drains,  or  it  may  have  evaporated 
long  before  the  farmer  saw  the  need  of  saving  it. 

The  hard-pan  may  be  so  near  the  surface  that  but 


144  The    Principles    of  Fruit- growing . 

little  water  could  get  into  the  land ;  the  dish -pan 
was  shallow,  and  the  early  rains  made  mud -puddles 
or  passed  off  over  the  surface.  Upon  such  lands, 
deep  plowing  is  necessary,  in  order  to  break  up  the 
hard-pan  and  to  increase  the  storage  capacity  of 
the  soil.  If  the  land  is  open  and  leachy,  shallow 
plowing  may  be  necessary,  else  the  soil  may  be  loos- 
ened too  much.  And  the  water -storage  capacity  of 
most  soils  may  be  increased  by  putting  humus  —  or 
decaying  organic  matter — into  them.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  the  methods  of  conserving  or  saving 
moisture  must  be  worked  out  —  or  rather  thought 
out — by  each  farmer  for  his  own  farm. 

The  water  of  rains  and  snows  is  held  upon  the 
surface  for  the  time,  and  allowed  to  percolate  into 
the  soil,  if  the  land  is  rough  and  open  from  recent 
plowing,  if  there  is  a  cover  of  herbage  upon  the 
land,  or  if  the  surface  is  soft  and  mellow.  Fall 
plowing  may  be  advisable  in  order  to  catch  the 
water  of  the  inactive  season,  and  also  to  expose 
hard  soils  to  weathering,  and  it  may  hasten  the 
work  of  spring.  But  clay  lands  with  little  humus 
in  them  may  puddle  or  cement  if  fall -plowed,  and 
if  harrowed  and  fitted  in  the  fall ;  and  in  the 
south  all  rolling  lands  are  exposed  to  serious  gully- 
ing by  fall  plowing.  As  a  general  thing,  it  is  not 
advisable  to  plow  fruit  plantations  in  the  fall,  how- 
ever, not  only  because  it  may  too  greatly  expose  the 
roots  to  the  weather,  but  because  it  prevents  the 
ameliorating  of  such  lands  by  the  use  of  some  in- 
cidental or  catch  crop  which  may  be  sown  after  the 


Tools   tvith   which   to   Save   Moisture.  145 

summer  tilling  is  done.  The  winter  covering  of 
plants  is  quite  as  efficient  in  holding  the  precipi- 
tated water  as  fall  plowing  is,  and  the  other  ad- 
vantages of  it  are  invaluable  (as  explained  in  Chap- 
ter IV.). 

Any  body  or  substance  which  is  interposed  be- 
tween the  air  and  the  moist  soil  will  prevent  the 
evaporation  of  the  moisture.  The  ground  is  moist 
underneath  a  board.  So  is  it  underneath  a  layer 
of  sawdust  or  of  ashes ;  and  so  is  it  underneath 
a  layer  of  two  or  three  inches  of  dry  earth.  It 
is  expensive  and  difficult  to  haul  this  dry  earth 
onto  the  land,  and,  moreover,  it  soon  becomes  hard 
and  dense,  and  is  no  longer  a  mulch.  It  is  better 
to  make  the  mulch  on  the  spot  by  shallow  cultiva- 
tion, and  to  repair  the  mulch  as  soon  as  it  be- 
comes hard  and  crusted.  The  orchardist  will,  there- 
fore, till  as  often  as  the  land  needs  it,  however 
frequent  that  may  be ;  but  as  a  general  statement 
it  may  be  said  that  fruit -lands  ought  to  be  tilled 
every  ten  days  and  after  every  rain. 

USE    OF    THE    VARIOUS    TOOLS    IN    RELATION    TO 
CONSERVATION    OF    MOISTURE.* 

Plowing  to  save  moisture. — The  first  step  in  the 
conservation  of  moisture  must  be  the  preparation  of 
the  land  so  that  the  rain  will  sink  down,  and  not 
be  carried  off  by  surface  drainage.  In  many  sec- 

*  Adapted  from  L.  A.  Clinton,  Bull.  120,  Cornell  Exp.   Sta.      For   a    fuller 
discussion  of  the  subject,  consult  Roberts'  "The  Fertility  of  the  Land." 


146  The   Principles   of  Fruit- growing. 

tions  of  the  country,  especially  in  the  southern 
states,  the  great  bane  to  agriculture  is  the  surface 
washing  of  the  soil.  Owing  to  shallow  plowing 
and  shallow  cultivation,  the  water  is  unable  to  set- 
tle into  the  hard  soil  with  sufficient  rapidity,  and 
is  carried  along  the  surface,  producing  those  gullies 
which  are  there  so  destructive  to  farm  lands. 

The  improvements  in  the  plow  have  done  much 
towards  remedying  these  defects,  but  there  is  still 
much  ignorance  as  to  the  proper  use  of  this  imple- 
ment. As  an  implement  to  be  used  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  soil  for  the  reception  of  moisture,  it 
stands  pre-eminent.  Good  plowing  does  not  con- 
sist— as  ordinarily  supposed — in  merely  inverting  a 
portion  of  the  earth,  but  in  pulverizing  and  fining 
it  and  burying  the  sod  or  refuse  which  may  be 
on  the  surface.  The  amount  of  water  which  a 
soil  is  capable  of  holding  depends  directly  upon 
the  fineness  of  its  particles.  Then  that  plow  which 
will  break  and  -pulverize  the  soil  most  thoroughly 
is  the  one  best  adapted  to  fit  the  soil  for  holding 
moisture.  This  point  is  well  illustrated  by  King  in 

NOTE.— Figs.  13  and  14  (pages  147  and    148)  are  designed   to  illustrate  some 
of  the  leading  types  of  tools  which  are  used  for  tilling  fruit-lands.     It  is  n 
the  purpose  to  recommend  these  particular  tools  over  any  others,  or,  in  fact, 
recommend  them   at  all  ;    but  simply  to  show  the  reader  the  range  of    form 
which  are  in  common  use. 

Fig.  13.  No.  1,  An  ideal  plow  (from  Roberts'  "The  Fertility  of  the  Land" 
2, Syracuse  vineyard  and  garden  plow;  3,  Syracuse  swivel  plow;  4,  Mapes  su 
soil  plow  ;  5,  Deere  subsoil  plow  ;  6,  8,  Spike-tooth  cultivators  ;  7,  Gang-plov 
9,  Spring-tooth  cultivator,  with  side  guards  ;  10,  Pearce's  orchard  gan 
plow  ;  11,  Sherwood  harness. 

Fig.  14.    No.  1,  Disc  harrow  ;    2,  Spike-tooth  harrow  ;   3,  Acme  harrow  ; 
Spring-tooth   harrow,  with   side  frames  ;    5,  Sulky  cultivator  ;    6,  Spring-too 
harrow  ;  7,  Springfield  grape-hoe  -,   8,  Morgan  grape-hoe  (handle  a  is  a  rudder) 


Fig.  13.     Various  tools   adapted  to  tilling  of  fruit  plantations. 
(For  titles  see  note,  page  146.) 


Fit'.  14. 


Tools   adapted   to   surface  tilling  of  fruit-lands. 
(For  titles  see  note,  page  146.) 


Saving   Soil   Moisture.  149 

"The  Soil."  He  says:  "Since  each  independent  soil 
grain  of  a  moist  soil  is  more  or  less  completely 
surrounded  by  a  film  of  water,  it  is  evident  that, 
other  conditions  being  present,  the  largest  aggre- 
gate surface  area  may  retain  the  most  water  per 
cubic  foot.  Now,  a  cubic  foot  of  marbles  one 
inch  in  diameter  possesses  an  aggregate  surface  of 
27.7  square  feet,  while  if  the  marbles  were  reduced 
in  diameter  to  one -thousandth  of  an  inch,  then  the 
total  area  per  cubic  foot  is  increased  to  37,700 
square  feet."  From  this  it  is  evident  that  the 
total  amount  of  water  capable  of  being  absorbed 
by  a  soil  which  is  cloddy  and  lumpy  is  very  slight 
in  comparison  with  what  *it  would  be  were  it  in  a 
finely  divided  state ;  and  not  only  is  its  absorbing 
power  less,  but  its  power  of  holding  moisture  is 
also  greatly  reduced. 

A  large  amount  of  water  is  lost  during  the 
winter  and  spring  months,  owing  to  the  surface 
drainage  of  melting  snows  and  heavy  rainfalls. 
To  prevent  this  loss,  fall  plowing  may  be  prac- 
ticed, and  when  the  subsoil  is  very  hard  and  com- 
pact, the  use  of  the  subsoil  plow  may  prove  most 
beneficial.  Should  the  ground  break  up  in  clods, 
then  it  may  be  allowed  to  remain  during  the 
winter  without  harrowing,  to  more  thoroughly  sub- 
ject it  to  the  beneficial  action  of  the  elements. 
But  if  the  soil  is  in  good  mechanical  condition, 
and  in  fruit -land,  plnnts  should  be  growing  on  it 
'during  the  winter. 

Harroiving   to   save   moisture. — The  harrow,  besides 


150  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing, 

pulverizing  and  fining  the  soil  for  the  seed-bed,  is 
most  efficient  in  furnishing  an  earth -mulch.  The 
spring -tooth  harrow  is  in  reality  a  cultivator,  and 
its  action  is  similar  to  that  of  the  cultivator. 
When  used  as  an  instrument  to  conserve  moisture, 
the  teeth  should  penetrate  to  the  depth  of  about 
three  inches,  and  to  produce  the  best  effect  the 
ridges  left  by  it  should  be  leveled  off  by  a  smoother, 
which  can  now  be  purchased  as  an  attachment  to 
the  harrow.  The  tillage  of  orchards  by  the  harrow 
is  now  practiced  extensively,  and  nothing  short  of 
irrigation  will  so  nearly  meet  the  demands  of  trees 
for  moisture,  particularly  upon  the  heavier  soils. 

The  Acme  harrow  is  a  most  excellent  implement 
on  soils  which  are  comparatively  free  from  stones 
and  rubbish.  The  plow -like  action  of  its  blades 
serves  to  pulverize  the  soil,  to  spread  the  mulch 
evenly,  and  it  leaves  a  most  excellent  seed-bed. 

The  cutaway  or  disc  harrows  may  be  either  bene- 
ficial or  of  absolute  injury.  If  the  discs  are  so  set 
that  they  cover  but  a  portion  of  the  surface  with 
the  mulch,  they  leave  a  ridge  exposed  to  the  action 
of  the  wind  and  sun,  and  the  rate  of  evaporation 
is  greatly  increased.  The  discs  should  be  set  at 
such  an  angle  that  the  whole  surface  shall  be 
stirred  or  covered.  Their  chief  value  lies  in  their 
cutting  and  pulverizing  action  on  clay  soils,  but  as 
conservers  of  moisture  they  are  inferior  to  the  Acme 
or  the  spring -tooth.  Soils  which  need  the  disc 
harrow  to  pulverize  them  should  generally  be  gone 
over  again  with  some  shallower  tool. 


Cultivating   to   Save   Moisture.  151 

The  mellower  the  soil,  the  lighter  should  be  the 
work  done  by  the  harrow.  On  most  heavy  orchard 
soils,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  use  the  heavy 
tools,  like  the  spring -tooth  and  disc  harrows,  in  the 
spring,  but  if  the  land  is  properly  handled  it  should 
be  in  such  condition  as  to  allow  the  use  of  a 
spike -tooth  or  smoothing  harrow  during  summer. 
This  light  summer  harrowing  should  be  sufficient  to 
keep  down  the  weeds,  and  it  preserves  the  soil- 
mulch  in  most  excellent  condition.  With  such  a 
tool  and  on  land  in  good  tilth,  a  man  can  harrow 
ten  or  more  acres  a  day. 

Cultivators  and  conservation  of  moisture. — The  ac- 
tion of  cultivators  is  not  materially  different  from 
that  of  the  spring -tooth  harrow.  The  size  of  the 
teeth  should  be  regulated  by  the  work  to  be  per- 
formed, an  implement  with  many  small  teeth  being 
preferable  to  one  with  a  few  large  teeth,  when  the  ob- 
ject is  to  conserve  moisture.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  in  a  dry  time  the  less  surface  exposed  the 
less  will  be  the  evaporation.  If  a  large-toothed  im- 
plement is  used  to  destroy  grass  and  weeds,  then  it 
should  be  followed  by  a  smoother  to  reduce  the  ridges 
and  prevent  loss  of  moisture.  Ridge  culture  is  only 
allowable  when  the  object  is  to  relieve  the  soil  of 
moisture  on  bottom  lands  where  the  water  comes 
very  near  the  surface,  or  for  some  special  crops, 
where  a  high  degree  of  warmth  is  required  early  in 
the  season.  In  these  cases,  it  may  be  necessary  to 
throw  up  ridges  to  produce  the  proper  degree  of 
warmth  for  germination,  but  even  then  the  ridges 


152  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

should  be  slight.  Nothing  could  be  better  calculated 
to  dry  out  a  potato  field  or  a  corn  field  than  throw- 
ing the  ground  up  in  high  ridges,  leaving  a  large 
surface  exposed  to  the  action  of  sun  and  wind. 
In  fruit  plantations  which  are  in  a  proper  state  of 
cultivation,  a  small -toothed  or  even  spike -toothed 
cultivator  will  be  found  sufficient  to  maiiitain  the 
surface  mulch. 

The  roller,  in  its  relation  to  soil  moisture,  is  an 
implement  whose  value  depends  largely  upon  local 
conditions.  There  is  no  tool  which  requires  more 
judgment  as  to  its  proper  use.  On  light,  loose, 
sandy  or  gravelly  soils,  where  every  effort  must  be 
made  to  solidify  and  pack  the  particles  closely  to- 
gether, the  roller  must  be  used  repeatedly.  The 
difficulty  with  such  soils  is  that  the  spaces  between 
the  grains  are  so  large  that  the  water  is  permitted 
to  pass  through  freely,  and  is  lost  by  percolation. 
The  capillary  openings  are  so  large  that  there  is 
very  feeble  rise  of  the  water  to  take  the  place  of 
that  used  by  plants  and  lost  by  evaporation.  The 
roller  lessens  the  size  of  these  pores  in  solidifying 
the  soil,  and  the  capillary  force  is  then  strong 
enough  to  draw  the  water  to  the  surface.  If,  now, 
the  soil  is  left  in  this  condition,  it  has  been  put 
in  the  best  possible  form  for  parting  with  its 
moisture  into  the  atmosphere,  and  it  will  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  opportunity  unless  prevented  by 
establishing  a  surface  mulch.  In  seeding  land  in  a 
dry  time,  the  soil  should  be  rolled  in  order  to  bring 
sufficient  moisture  to  the  seeds  to  insure  germina- 


Rolling   and   Smoothing.  153 

tion.  When  circumstances  will  permit,  the  roller 
should  be  followed  by  a  smoothing  harrow,  that  the 
surface  mulch  may  be  restored  and  the  moisture 
stopped  before  reaching  the  atmosphere.  On  clay 
lands  the  roller  must  be  used  with  much  caution. 
If  used  immediately  after  grain  is  sown  and  a  heavy 
rain  follows,  there  is  danger  of  the  soil  becoming 
so  compact  on  the  surface  that  the  tender  shoots 
are  unable  to  get  through,  and  the  most  direct  con- 
nection is  established  between  the  soil  moisture  and 
the  air.  A  good  method  of  treatment  for  clay  is 
to  roll  before  the  seed  is  sown,  then  harrow  and 


Fig.  15.    A  planker  or  float. 

make  a  good  seed  bed,  and  then  drill  in  the  grain. 
After  the  plants  are  well  up  the  roller  may  be  used 
again,  which  will  bring  the  water  to  the  surface, 
where  the  growing  plants  can  make  use  of  it  before 
it  passes  off  by  evaporation. 

Various  kinds  of  plankers  or  floats  may  be  used 
in  the  place  of  the  roller  to  smooth  en  and  compact 
recently  tilled  lands.  A  good  tool  of  this  kind  is 
shown  in  Fig.  15.  "To  make  this  cheap  and  easily- 
made  adjunct  to  good  cultivation,  take  two  hard- 
wood planks,  2x8  inches  and  7  feet  long,  and 


154  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

notch  them  as  in  the  cut,  boring  a  hole  at  the  upper 
end  to  hitch  to;  the  notches  should  be  8  inches  apart 
and  2  inches  deep  ;  now  nail  cross  planks  on  the  two 
notched  bed  pieces,  using  the  same  sized  pieces,  2x8 
and  6  or  7  feet  long ;  let  the  cross  planks  project  1 
foot  at  each  end  over  the  bed  pieces.  If  more  weight 
is  needed  to  fine  the  clay  lumps,  the  driver  can  ride 
the  float,  or  weights  can  be  placed  on  it.  I  go  over 
with  this  float  when  seeding  to  grass,  and  also  in 
fitting  strawberry  ground.  I  prefer  it  to  a  roller,  as 
it  leaves  the  surface  smooth  and  fine."* 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    THE    TILLING    OP     FRUIT -LANDS. 

Lands  which  enjoy  perfect  natural  drainage  are 
particularly  desirable  for  orchards,  because  they  are 
not  only  warm  and  give  up  their  fertility  easily, 
but  because  they  also  allow  of  very  early  cultivation, 
which  is  an  important  requisite  in  the  management 
of  orchards.  If  this  perfect  natural  drainage  does 
not  exist,  tile- drainage  should  be  employed  until  the 
soil  is  brought  into  the  best  possible  condition.  It 
should  be  said  that  many  hard  and  wet  soils  make 
excellent  pear  and  plum  lands  when  thoroughly  tile- 
drained.  It  is  a  common  opinion  that  only  flat  lands 
need  draining,  but  one  often  finds  rolling  lands  in 
which  the  subsoil  is  high  and  hard,  and  holds  the 
water  like  a  dish -pan.  Judicious  draining  not 
only  carries  off  the  superfluous  water,  but  it  also 

*H.  L.  Barton,  in  Fruit;  quoted  in  Market  Garden,  Apr.,  1897. 


Subsoiling.  155 

loosens  the  subsoil  and  allows  it  to  retain  its  mois- 
ture better  in  times  of  drought.  An  attempt  should 
be  made  to  bring  the  land  in  the  various  parts  of 
the  orchard  into  conditions  as  uniform  as  possible, 
so  that  the  same  tillage  and  treatment  may  be  ap- 
plied to  the  entire  area.  All  hard  and  "sour"  spots 
should  receive  particular  care  in  drainage  and  subju- 
gation, or  they  should  be  left  outside  the  plantation. 

Lands  which  have  hard  and  impervious  subsoils 
should  be  plowed  very  deep  before  trees  are  put 
upon  them  ;  and  in  some  cases,  as  for  dwarf  pears, 
it  may  pay  well  to  use  the  subsoil  plow.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  subsoil  plow  is 
not  always  a  fundamental  corrective  of  hard  subsoils, 
for  it  does  not  remove  the  cause.  The  subsoil  may 
gradually  settle  back  into  its  old  condition,  and  land 
cannot  be  completely  subsoiled  after  it  is  planted  to 
trees.  In  the  case  of  strawberries,  raspberries,  and 
other  short -rotation  fruits,  the  subsoil  plow  may  be 
used  at  frequent  intervals;  but  in  lands  which  are  to 
be  planted  to  orchards,  the  tile  drain  is  a  more  per- 
fect ameliorator  of  the  subsoil  than  the  subsoil  plow 
is.  Yet  even  the  one  subsoiling  may  serve  a  use- 
ful purpose  in  sending  the  roots  downwards  at  the 
start,  and  this  advantage  will  be  the  greater  when 
the  superfluous  water  removes  itself  rapidly  from  the 
hard-pan. 

The  soil  in  which  orchards  are  set  should  always 
be  in  a  thorough  state  of  cultivation  at  the  time  the 
trees  are  planted;  that  is,  whether  in  sod  or  in  hoed 
crops,  the  land  should  be  in  good  tilth  or  physical 


156  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

condition,  fertile,  and  free  from  hard  or  "sour"  places 
and  pernicious  weeds.  There  are  exceptions  to  this 
rule  in  the  case  of  certain  rocky  or  steep  lands  upon 
which  it  is  desired  to  set  apples;  but  for  all  orchards 
which  are  planted  directly  for  commercial  results, 
this  advice  has  few,  if  any,  exceptions.  It  is  gener- 
ally best  to  put  the  land  into  hoed  crops  the  season 
before  the  trees  are  set,  as  potatoes  or  corn;  although 
sod  land,  if  well  fitted  and  naturally  in  good  heart, 
often  gives  excellent  results  when  turned  over  and 
set  at  once  to  orchards.  But  most  soils  need  the 
previous  cultivation  to  bring  them  into  a  mellow  and 
uniform  condition.  Many  of  the  "bad  places"  in  or- 
chards, where  trees  die  out  the  first  two  or  three 
years,  could  have  been  discovered  and  corrected  if 
the  land  had  been  devoted  to  one  or  several  hoed 
crops,  for  the  owner  would  have  observed  that  they 
were  too  wet  or  too  lumpy,  or  had  other  serious  de- 
fects. Lands  look  more  uniform  when  in  sod  than 
when  cultivated,  and  the  farmer  may  be  led  to  over- 
estimate their  value  for  orchard  purposes.  It  may 
also  be  said  that  the  familiarity  with  a  particular- 
piece  of  land,  which  comes  of  frequent  cultivation, 
enables  the  careful  grower  to  judge  accurately  of  its 
adaptability  to  particular  fruits  or  even  to  special 
varieties. 

The  best  tillage  is  that  which  begins  early  in  the 
season,  and  which  keeps  the  surface  stirred  until  late 
summer  or  early  fall,  and  the  best  implements  are 
those  which  secure  this  result  with  the  least  amount 
of  time  and  labor.  For  the  first  few  years,  it  is  gen- 


Plowing    Orchards.  157 

erally  advisable  to  turn  the  land  rather  deep  with  a 
plow  at  the  first  spring  cultivation.  For  the  subse- 
quent cultivation  of  the  season,  there  are  many  styles 
of  clod  crushers,  spring- tooth  harrows,  cut-aways  and 
smoothing  harrows,  which  adapt  themselves  readily  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  particular  soil  in  question. 
There  is  no  single  style  of  tool  which  is  best  for  all 
soils  or  for  all  years.  As  a  general  statement,  it  may 
be  said  that  for  all  heavy  lands  the  fruit-grower 
needs  four  types  of  harrows,  — the  cut-away,  or 
spading -harrow  type  for  hard  land,  and  the  first 
spring  work ;  the  spring -tooth  type,  the  Acme  or 
clod -crusher  type,  and  the  smoothing -harrow  type. 
The  last  is  to  be  used  only  to  make  and  maintain  the 
surface  mulch  after  the  land  has  been  got  in  fine 
tilth.  In  all  friable  or  loose  soils,  shallow  cultivation 
is  always  preferable.  When  the  land  is  once  in  good 
condition,  but  little  effort  and  time  are  required  to 
run  through  the  orchard.  Crust  should  never  be  al- 
lowed to  form  upon  the  surface,  and  weeds  should  be 
killed  before  they  become  firmly  established.  The 
entire  surface  of  the  orchard  should  be  thoroughly 
stirred  as  often  as  once  in  ten  days  or  two  weeks 
whilst  the  tillage  lasts. 

In  general,  level  culture  is  best.  This  is  secured 
by  plowing  one  year  to  the  trees  and  the  following 
year  away  from  them;  one  year  north  and  south,  and 
the  next  year  east  and  west.  It  is  somewhat  difficult 
to  plow  away  from  large  trees,  however,  and  with  the 
cultivators  or  harrows  now  in  use,  it  is  easy  to  work 
the  soil  away  by  subsequent  cultivation,  allowing  the 


158 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


furrow  to  be  thrown  towards  the  tree  each  spring, 
particularly  if  the  land  is  in  good  tilth;  but  it  is  al- 
ways advisable,  upon  fairly  level  ground,  to  plow  the 
orchard  in  opposite  directions  in  alternate  years. 
Land  which  is  so  wet  that  it  needs  to  be  thrown 
permanently  into  ridges  for  drainage 
is  not  often  adapted  to  fruit. 

The  difficulty  of  working  close  to 
the  trees  has  had  the  effect  of  en- 
couraging too  high  pruning.  There 
is  a  tendency  to  start  tops  too  high 
rather  than  too  low,  thereby  exposing 
great  length  of  trunk  to  injuries  of 
sun  and  wind,  and  elevating  the  top 
beyond  the  reach  of  pickers  and  of 
sprays.  For  most  trees  the  ideal 
length  of  trunk  is  under  five  feet 
rather  than  above  it,  and  implements 
now  in  the  market  allow  of  this 
lower  training.  Trees  which  have 
low  tops,  or  which  hang  low  with 
fruit,  can  be  reached  by  separating 
the  halves  of  any  of  the  double 
set-over  harrows  by  means  of  a  long  dou- 
bletree, so  that  the  halves,  when  ad- 
justed, run  from  four  to  six  feet 
from  each  other.  A  cut-away  harrow  rigged  in 
this  manner  will  work  away  the  back -furrows  from 
under  the  trees  during  the  season.  All  cultivators  or 
harrows  with  high  handles,  wheels  or  levers  should 
be  discarded  if  orchards  are  worked  when  the  limbs 


Fig. 
beam  vineyard  plo' 


Tillage,   of  the    Young    Orchard.  159 

beiid  low  with  fruit.  An  implement  of  the  grape - 
hoe  type  may  be  used  with  advantage  in  some  cases 
to  loosen  the  earth  about  the  trees.  A  single -horse 
plow,  with  a  set-over  beam  (as  in  Fig.  16),  is  also 
most  excellent  for  plowing  close  to  trees  and  bushes. 
The  objection  to  -  medium -low  heads  to  trees  arises 
from  the.  use  of  the  old-fashioned  implements  of  till- 
age, and  also  from  a  misconception  of  what  the 
plowing  of  an  old  orchard  should  be,  for  if  the  or- 
chard is  properly  cared  for  in  its  earlier  years,  heavy 
plowing  will  not  be  needed  in  its  later  life. 

This  labor  of  working  about  trees  is  greatly  facil- 
itated by  the  use  of  harnesses  which  have  no  metal 
projections.  There  should  be  no  hames  with  elevated 
tops,  and  the  turrets  on  the  back -pads  should  be 
simply  leather  loops.  The  back -pad  itself  should  be 
reduced  to  a  single  wide  strap  entirely  devoid  of 
wadding.  Harnesses  of  the  Sherwood  type,  with  no 
traces,  but  drawing  by  a  single  chain  between  the 
horses,  are  excellent  in  orchards,  as  they  require  no 
whiffletrees,  and  they  are  likewise  handy  and  efficient. 

The  better  the  plowing  and  other  tillage  of  the 
orchard  in  the  first  few  years  of  its  life,  the  easier 
and  more  efficient  the  subsequent  plowing  will  be.  If 
care  is  taken  to  keep  the  land  friable  and  well -filled 
with  humus,  it  may  not  be  necessary  to  turn  furrows 
at  the  spring  plowing  after  four  or  five  years.  Per- 
sons commonly  suppose  that  an  orchard  must  be 
plowed  the  same  as  corn  or  potato  ground  is,  by  in- 
verting the  laud  and  running  regular  furrows ;  but 
inasmuch  as  the  object  is  simply  to  keep  the  land 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


mellow  on  top,  and  not  to  get  a  crop 
into  it,  heavy  plowing  is  not  essen- 
tial. Very  often  some  of  the  heavier 
harrows  or  light  gang-plows  may  be 
used  to  tear  up  the  ground  in  spring, 
if  the  land  has  been  got  into  proper 
shape  when  the  plantation  was  young. 
This  is  especially  true  in  light  lauds 
upon  which  peaches  are  generally 
grown.  If  cover  crops  are  to  be 
plowed  under,  these  remarks  will  not 
apply  with  equal  force.  In  the  first 
few  years,  however,  it  is  essential  to 
plow  moderately  deep  in  order  to  break 
up  the  soil  and  to  send  the  roots  down, 
as  explained  farther  on.  A  world  of 
trouble  with  the  orchard  will  be  saved 
if  the  suggestions  in  this  paragraph 
are  fully  understood. 

Specific  remarks. — 1.  Begin  to  till 
when  the  orchard  is  planted,  and  till 
the  entire  surface.  If  trees  are  prop- 


Root -growth   in    Trees.  161 

erly  set,  and  if  cultivation  is  begun  the  first  year, 
the  roots  will  go  deep  enough  to  escape  the  plow. 
The  roots  of  trees  spread  much  farther  than  the  tops. 
I  will  give  some  examples  from  trees  of  which  we 
have  carefully  measured  the  tops  and  roots.  Fig.  17 
shows  a  standard  Ho  well  pear  tree  set  in  1889  and 
photographed  in  1895.  It  grows  on  a  hard  clay  knoll. 
The  full  spread  of  the  top  is  seven  feet.  Two  roots 
were  laid  bare,  and  they  ran  off  in  one  direction  to 
a  distance  of  twenty-one  feet.  Assuming  that  they 
ran  an  equal  distance  in  the  other  direction,  the 
spread  of  roots  was  forty-two  feet,  or  just  six  times 
that  of  the  top.  And  yet  it  is  commonly  said  that 
the  spread  of  roots  and  tops  is  about  equal!  Now, 
these  roots  were  long  and  whip -like.  The  soil  was 
so  poor  that  they  were  obliged  to  search  far  and 
wide  for  pasture.  Compare  Fig.  18.  This  is  a  Fall 
Orange  apple,  also  set  in  1889,  in  rich,  well  tilled  soil. 
Here  the  roots  are  in  good  pasture,  and  they  remain 
at  home;  yet  their  spread  is  twice  that  of  the  top. 
The  top  of  this  tree  had  a  diameter  of  eight  feet, 
and  we  followed  the  roots  eight  feet  upon  the  side  in 
which  we  dug.  These  object  lessons  enforce  the  im- 
portance of  tilling  all  the  land  between  trees. 

But  these  figures  teach  another  lesson.  Even 
at  their  highest  point,  the  roots  of  Fig.  17  are 
eight  inches  below  the  surface.  They  escape  the 
plow.  A  like  remark  applies  to  Fig.  18.  Now 
look  at  Fig.  19.  This  tree  is  the  same  age  as 
the  others,  but  has  always  stood  in  sod.  The 
roots  ran  ten  feet  in  one  direction  and  the  total 


162 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing, 


spread  of  the  top  was  six  feet ;  but  the  roots 
just  underneath  the  surface.  This  land  could 
be  plowed  without  great  injury  to  the  tree, 
us  consider  the  relation 
of  this  tree  to  moisture: 
the  roots  are  in  the  dri- 
est part  of  the  soil ;  the 
grass  is  pumping  out  the 
water  and  locking  it  up 
in  its  own  tissues  and 
sending  it  into  the  at- 
mosphere with  great  ra- 
pidity ;  the  soil  is  baked, 
and  pulls  up  the  water 
by  capillary  attraction  and 
discharges  it  into  the  air ; 
there  is  no  tillage  to  stop 
this  waste  by  spreading 
a  mulch  of  loose  and  dry 
soil  over  the  earth.  If 


lie 
not 
Let 


Fig.  is.    Roots  of  a  young  apple  tree  in  rich  tilled  land. 

one  were  to  sink  a  well  under  this  tree  and  were 
to  erect  a  windmill  and  pump,  he  could  not  so 
completely  deprive  the  tree  of  moisture!  And  the 


Tillage   in    Young    Orchards. 


163 


less   moisture,  the  less  food!      And  yet  this  is  a 
mon  method   of   treating   fruit-trees! 

In  young  orchards,  then, 
it  is  commonly  best  to  plow 
rather  deep — say  six  to  eight 
inches — in  order  to  send  the 
roots  down.  Of  course,  the 
plow  should  not  be  run  deep 
close  to  the  trunk  of  the 
tree.  The  careful  plowman 
will  turn  out  his  plow  when 
he  comes  within  a  couple 
of  feet  of  the  tree.  This 
deep  plowing  for  a  few 
years  will  ameliorate  the 
land,  establish  the  root-habit 
of  the  tree,  and  obviate 
the  necessity  of  laborious 
plowing  in  after  years. 

2.  Tillage  should  be  be- 
gun early  in  the  season, 
in  orchards.  Trees  com- 
plete most  of  their  growth 
by  the  first  of  July.  Early 
tillage  saves  the  moisture 


com- 


Fig.  19.     Roots  of  a  young   apple  tree  in  sod  land. 


164  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

which  has  accumulated  during  the  winter  and  spring; 
it  is  capable  of  putting  the  soil  in  fine  mechanical 
condition,  and  this  condition  is  as  important  as  fer- 
tility ;  it  warms  up  the  soil  and  sets  the  plants 
quickly  to  work  ;  it  turns  under  the  herbage  when 
that  herbage  is  soft  and  moist  and  when  there  is 
moisture  in  the  soil,  so  that  the  herbage  soon  breaks 
down  and  decays.  All  catch  crops  on  the  orchard 
should  be  plowed  under  just  as  soon  as  the  ground 
is  dry  enough  in  the  spring,  for  these  crops  soon 
pump  the  water  from  the  soil  and  cause  it  to  bake 
and  cement  together,  and  the  longer  they  remain  the 
more  difficult  it  is  to  cause  them  to  rot  when  turned 
under.  Hard  and  woody  herbage,  plowed  under  late 
in  the  season,  may  remain  as  a  foreign  body  in 
the  soil  all  summer,  breaking  the  connection  be- 
tween the  upper  and  the  lower  soil,  and  thereby 
preventing  the  upward  movement  of  the  water  and 
causing  the  top  soil  to  completely  dry  out.  The 
chief  value  of  crimson  clover,  rye,  or  other  catch 
crop  in  the  orchard  lies  in  its  fall  growth  and 
its  protection  of  the  soil  in  winter,  not  in  its 
growth  in  spring. 

Few  people  are  aware  that  the  season  of  growth 
in  most  w<?ody  plants  extends  scarcely  to  midsum- 
mer. It  is  worthy  of  note  that  most,  if  not  all, 
native  trees  and  shrubs  cease  growing  very  early  in 
the  season.  This  is  no  doubt  one  reason  why  they 
are  able  to  endure  the  winter.  Plants  which  cease 
growing  early,  and  which  mature  their  wood  well, 
are  often  said  to  be  determinate  in  their  growth, 


Early    Growth    of   Trees.  165 

while  those  of  opposite  habit  are  said  to  be  inde- 
terminate. It  is,  of  course,  apparent  that  plants  of 
indeterminate  growth  are  not  hardy,  as  a  rule.  A 
series  of  careful  measurements  of  growth  was  made 
upon  various  trees  and  shrubs  at  Lansing,  Michigan, 
in  1886,  and  some  of  the  records  are  presented  be- 
low.* The  last  date  in  each  case  designates  the  ter- 
mination of  growth  for  the  year.  It  will  be 
observed  that  very  few  of  the  plants  grew  until 
July.  This  fact  is  illustration  and  proof  that  in 
our  rigorous  climate  cultivation  should  stop  early, 
and  that  it  should  be  vigorous  at  the  opening  of 
the  season. 


RECORDS    OF    GROWTH. t 

Acer  dasycarpum—^lay  12th,  1  in.  ;  16th,  2  in. ;  25th,  4  in. ; 
June  6th,  7  in.;  13th,  9  in.;  20th,  10  in.;  29th,  12  in. 

*Acer  Pennsylvanicum— May  12th,  2  in.;  18th,  4  in.;  20th, 
5  in. ;  26th,  7  in. 

Acer  platanoides— May  12th,  3  in.;    16th,  4  in.;    20th,  5  in. 

Acer  Pseudo-Platanus—May  14th,  6  in.;  18th,  8  in.;  16th,  12 
in.;  30th,  13  in.;  June  6th,  20  in.;  13th,  23  in.;  20th,  24  in. 

Acer  rubrum— May  26th,  5  in.;  30th,  6  in.;  June  6th,  9  in.; 
13th,  10  in. 

*  Bailey,  Bull.  31,  Mich.  Agr.  College,  73. 

t  In  making  the  measurements  recorded  above,  one  average  shoot  was 
selected  on  each  plant,  and  measured  from  time  to  time  during  the  growing 
season.  The  drought  may  have  checked  growth  to  some  degree,  although  it  did 
not  become  severe  until  the  end  of  June.  Most  of  the  plants  stood  upon  the 
campus,  with  no  cultivation.  A  few  were  younger,  and  stood  in  the  rows  of  & 
closely  planted  arboretum,  where  they  received  occasional  cultivation,  or 
in  a  newly-planted  group,  where  the  soil  was  frequently  hoed;  these  plants 
are  designated  by  asterisks. 


166  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Acer  spicatum— May  18th,  1  in.;  20th,  2  in.;  30th,  3  in.  ; 
June  6th,  5  in.;  13th,  6  in.;  29th,  10  in.;  July  5th,  11  in., 
llth,  12  in. 

jEsculus  glabra—May  12th,  5  in.;  14th,  10  in.;  18th,  11  in.; 
20th,  12  in.;  26th,  13  in.;  30th,  14  in. 

^sculus  Hippocastanum—M.ay  5th,  2  in. ;  12th,  5  in. ;  14th,  7 
in.;  20th,  10  in.;  25th,  13  in.;  30th,  13  in. 

JEsculus  parviflora — May  5th,  2  in.;  25th,  6  in.;  June  6th,  8 
in.;  10th,  9  in.;  16th,  10  in.;  29th,  12  in. 

Alnus  glutinosa— May  14th,  %  in.;  18th,  1  in.;  30th,  2  in.; 
June  6th,  3  in. ;  20th,  4  in. 

*  Alnus  maritima—'M.ay  20th,  1  in.;    26th,  2  in.;   June  1st,  3  in. 
Alnus  serrulata—May  18th,  4  in.,     25th,  8   in.;    30th,  12    in.; 

June  6th,  13  in. ;    13th,  14  in. ;    20th,  16  in. 

Amclanchier   Canodensis—blay  12th,  1  in.;     14th,  2  in.;     18th, 

3  in.  ;    20th,  4  in. ;    26th,  7  in. ;    30th,  8  in. 

Amorpha  fruticosa— May  12th,  1  in.;  14th,  2  in.;  18th,  4  in.; 
20th,  6  in.;  26th,  10  in.;  30th,  11  in.;  June  6th,  12  in. 

Ampclopsis  qulnquefolia — May  26th,  14  in. ;  30th,  16  in.  ;  June 
6th,  24  in.;  13th,  30  in.;  20th,  36  in.;  29th,  38  in. 

Aralla  spinosa—May  26th,  4  in.;  30th,  5  in.;  June  13th,  5% 
in.;  20th,  6  in. 

Berberis  vulgaris—'M.&y  26th,  8  in  ;  June  1st,  12  in.;  6th,  14 
in.;  13th,  17  in  ;  20th,  18  in.;  29th,  20  in. 

Betula  alba,  var.— May  12th,  1  in.;  20th,  2  in.;  25th,  4  in.; 
30th,  5  in.;  June  6th,  7  in.;  10th,  8  in.;  19th,  10  in. 

*Bctula  lenta— May  26th,   1  in.;    June  1st,   2   in.;     13th,   6    in.; 
20th,  10  in. 

Betula  lutea— May  25th,  1  in.;  30th,  2  in.;  June  6th,  3  in.; 
13th,  4  in.;  29th,  5  in. 

Betula  papyrifem—'M.ay  18th,  1  in.;  20th,  2  in.;  26th,  3  in.; 
June  1st,  3%  in.;  6th,  4  in.;  20th,  5  in. 

*  Betula  alba  var.  populifolia— May   18th,    1    in.;    20th.   1%    in.; 
26th,  3  in.;    June  1st,  4  in.;    6th,  6  in.;    13th,  7  in.;   19th,  12  in.; 
29th,  14  in. 

Carpinus  Caroliniana—May  25th,  1  in.;    30th,  2  in.;    June  6th, 

4  in.;    13th,  5  in.;    20th,  6  in. 


Early   growth   of  Trees.  167 

Carya  alba— May  20th,  3  in.;    30th,   8    in.;     June   6th,   9  in.; 
13th,  9%  in. 

Carya  amara—May  25th,  3  in.;    30th,  3%"  in.;  June  3rd,  4  in.; 
13th,  4%  in. 

*Carya  sulcata—M.ay  18th,  6  in.;  20th,  8  in.;  26th,  12  in.; 
June  1st,  14  in. 

*Castanea  pumila—May  18th,  3  in.;  20th,  4  in.;  June  19th, 
12  in. 

Castanea  vesca — May  16,  1  in.;    26tn,  2  in.;    June  1st,  2%  in.; 
13th,  3  in. 

*Catalpa  KcBtnpferi—^iay  16th,  5  in.;  18th,  6  in.;  26th,  12  in.; 
30th,  14  in.;  June  6th,  16  in.;  13th,  20  in.;  20th,  24  in.;  29th, 
28  in. 

Celtis  occidentalis—M.ay  18th,  3  in.;    June  13th,  10  in. 
*Cercis  Canadensis—May  18th,  2  in.,    June  29th,  15  in. 
Cladmstis  tinctoria—May  9th,  1  in.;    June  20th,  18  in. 
Cornus  florida—May  25th,  2  in. ;     30th,    2%    in. ;    June    6th,  3 
in.;    13th,  4  in.;    20th,  5  in.;    29th,  6  in. 
*Cornus  Sibirica—May  16th,  1  in.;    June  29th,  12  in. 
Cratcegus  Crus-galli—May  9th,  1  in.;    June  13th,  7  in. 
Cratcegus  Oxyacantha—U&y  12th,  3  in.;    June  29th,  22  in. 
*Euonymus  atropurpureus — May  18th,  6  in.;    June  19th,  13  in. 

Fag-us  ferruginea— May  18th,  2  in.;    26th,  5  in.;    30th,  8  in. 
*Fraxinus  pubcscens— May  14th,  2  in.;    18th,  4  in.;    20th,  6  in.; 
26th,  8  in. 

Gleditschia  triacanthos—June  1st,  2  in.;    20th,  12  in. 
Liriodendron  Tulipifera—M.ay  26th,  1   in.;     30th,   2   in.;     June 
6th,  3  in.;    29th,  5  in.;    July  5th,  6  in. 

*Maclura  aurantiaca — May  18th,  1  in.;    July  10th,  37  in. 
Magnolia  acuminata — May  20th,  1  in.;    June  29th,  6  in. 
Philadelphus    coronarius — May  12th,  3   in.:    June   19th,  19  in. 
Platanus   occidentalis—M.ay  26th,  1  in.;    July  5th,  9  in. 
*Platanus  orientalis—M.ay  18th,  3  in.;   20th,  4  in.;   26th,  8  in.; 
June   1st,  12  in.;    6th,   16  in.;    13th,  24  in.;    29th,  40  in.;    July 
llth,  44  in.;    25th,  52  in.;    Aug.  3d,  56  in.,  still  growing. 

*Populus  alba  var.  Bolleana  —  May  12th,  2  in. ;  August  3rd, 
32  in. 


168  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Populus  grandidentata  var.  pendula — May  12th,  2%  in.;  June 
29th,  17  in. 

Populus  monilifera—May  16th,  2  in.;    June  19th,  G  in. 

Primus  nana — May   16th,  3   in.;    26th,  5  in.;    June  1st,  7  in. 

Primus  Pissardii— May  8th,  5  in.;    June  13th  10  in. 

Prunus  serotina—May  12th,  7  in.;    30th,   14  in. 

Prunus   rirginiana—U&y  12th,  3  in.;    2Gth,  6  in. 

Pyrus  Aucupnria — May  3d,  %  in.;    June  Gth,   12  in. 
*Pyrus  Malus—May  9th,  2  in. ;    26th,  8  in. 

Quercus  alba— May  12th,  2  in.;    18th,  G  in.;    26th,  13  in. 
*Quercus  bicolor—May  9th,  2  in.;    July  5th,  12  in. 

Quercus  coccinea  var.  tinctoria — May  12th,  1  in. ;  June  13th, 
7  in. 

*Quercus  ilicifolia—May  14th,  3  in. ;    June  6th,   13  in. 
*Quercus  imbricaria—M&y  12th,  2  in.;    June  Gth,  20  in. 

Quercus  macrocarpa — May  16th,  4  in.;  20th,  6  in.;  25th, 
12  in.;  30th,  13  in.;  June  6th,  14  in. 

Quercus  nigra — May  12th,  5  in.;    June  6th,  14  in. 

Ribes  floridum—TAay  12th,  2  in.;    June  6th,  12  in. 

Robinia  Mspida—May  18th,  2  in.;    June  19th,  12  in. 

Robin ia  Pseudacacia—May  12th,  1  in. ;  18th,  2  in. ;  26th, 
3  in.;  30th,  4  in.:  June  Gth,  5  in.;  13th  6  .in. ;  20th,  7  in.; 
29th,  9  in.;  July  £th,  10  in. 

*Salix  £abylonica—M.ay  9th,  %  in.;  12th,  2  in.;  16th,  3  in.; 
20th,  4  in.;  26th,  6  in.;  June  1st,  12  in.;  13th,  16  in.;  July 
llth,  27  in.;  19th,  34  in.;  25th,  40  in.;  Aug.  3d,  42  in. 

Syringa  vulgaris—May  3d,  4  in.;  9th,  8  in.;  12th,  12  in.; 
18th,  13  in.;  26th,  14  in. 

TiUa  Americana— May  14th,  2  in.;  18th,  3  in.;  20th,  5  in..; 
26th,  11  in.;  June  1,  12  in.;  6th,  13  in. 

Vitis  riparia—'M.ay  14th,  1  in.;    30th,  15  in. 

3.  Tillage  should  generally  be  stopped  in  late  sum- 
mer or  very  early  fall.  The  tree  has  completed  its 
growth.  It  must  now  ripen  and  prepare  for  winter. 
It  can  spare  some  of  the  moisture  which  comes  with 


Mistakes  in    Orchard    Culture.  169 

the   fall   rains.     We   may,   therefore,   sow   some   catch 
or   cover   crop.     (See    Chapter   IV.) 

4.  Till    in    such    manner    that    the    laud    shall    be 
in  uniformly  fine  tilth.     Every  good  farmer  knows  that 
the   value   of   his   crop   depends   more   upon   the   tilth 
of   the  soil   than  upon  the  mere  richness  of   it.     Fer- 
tility   is    largely    locked    up    in    poorly    tilled    lands. 
Orchards   which   are   plowed   late  in   spring   are   usu- 
ally in  bad   condition  all  the  season,  especially  if  the 
soil  is  clay.     Fall  plowing   upon  stiff   and  bare   lands 
is   apt   to  result    in   the   puddling  of   the    soil    by  the 
rain  and  snow,  as   already  explained;    if  there  is  sod 
on    the    land,    this    injury    is    less    likely   to    follow. 
In   general,    it    is   best  to  let   orchard   lands  pass   the 
winter  under   a   catch   crop. 

5.  Remember  that  tillage  may  be  overdone.     Trees 
may   be    made    to    grow   too   much    wood,    and    there- 
fore  too  little   fruit,  and   they  may  be  sent   into  the 
winter   in    soft   and   unripened   condition.     If   land   is 
in    good   tilth,    as    it   is   when   in    best    condition   for 
the    growing    of    potatoes    or   melons,    tillage    beyond 
that  needed  to  conserve  the  moisture  is  useless  ;    and 
even   this   conservation -tillage   may   well   stop   in   late 
summer    in    very    many    cases,    as    already    indicated 
It   is    a   common    practice    to    severely   head -in    trees 
which    are   making   a    too   vigorous    growth,    but    this 
practice   usually  aggravates    the  difficulty  rather   than 
corrects    it.       The     fundamental     treatment    for    such 
trees    is   to   check   the  growth  by  some   means,  as  by 
lessening    the   tillage   or    by   withholding    stimulating 
fertilizers. 


170  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

CROPPING    THE    ORCHARD. 

It  will  now  be  asked  what  crops  may  be  grown 
in  the  orchard.  Grain  and  hay,  never!  Any  hoed 
crop  may  be  used  for  the  first  few  years ;  but  it 
must  be  remembered  that  every  crop  competes  with 
the  trees  for  food  and  moisture,  and  whatever  may 
befall  the  crop,  the  trees  should  not  be  allowed  to 
suffer.  An  open  space  should  be  left  about  the  tree, 
free  -of  crops,  at  least  several  feet  in  extent.  As 
a  general  statement,  it  may  be  said  that  a  space 
three  feet  wide  should  be  left  upon  all  sides  of  the 
tree  the  first  year,  and  this  area  should  be  enlarged 
a  foot  or  two  each  year  ;  and  this  space  should  con- 
tinue to  enlarge  until  the  trees  occupy  the  entire  sur- 
face. Corn  and  some  other  luxuriant  plants  appro- 
priate moisture  more  quickly  than  the  tree  can. 
In  general,  some  low -growing  crop  which  demands 
good  tillage  and  comes  off  the  land  early  is  best. 
The  notion  that  young  trees  should  be  shaded  by  a 
crop  is  probably  erroneous  for  most  regions.  In 
orchards  set  less  than  twenty  feet  apart,  the  land 
should  rarely  be  cropped  after  the  third  year ;  but 
apple  orchards,  if  well  cared  for,  may  be  cropped 
lightly  for  seven  or  eight  years.  In  no  case  should 
the  grower  expect  to  secure  as  much  crop  upon 
orchard  land  as  upon  other  areas ;  and  the  drier 
the  land,  the  less  should  it  be  cropped.  When  the 
orchard  comes  to  bearing  age,  give  it  the  entire  land. 
Thereafter,  the  most  profitable  secondary  crop  to  raise 
is  cultivators. 


Crops  for   Fruit   Plantations.  171 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  only  those  crops 
are  allowable  in  a  fruit  plantation  which  demand 
such  treatment  as  to  improve  the  land  for  the  fruit 
plants.  The  growing  of  light  crops  is  a  means  of 
keeping  the  land  stirred  when  it  might  otherwise  be 
neglected ;  and  if  the  grower  is  careful  to  see  that 
the  physical  condition  of  the  land  is  improved,  and 
adds  enough  plant -food  to  supply  the  loss,  the  light 
cropping  of  orchards  for  the  first  few  years  may  be 
a  decided  benefit.  At  all  events,  cultivated  crops 
are  better  than  sod.  The  danger  is  that  the  fruit- 
grower will  continue  the  cropping  too  long,  and 
expect  too  much  from  it.  In  an  orchard,  the  crops 
ought  to  pay  for  taking  care  of  the  land  until  the 
trees  come  into  bearing.  Strawberries  and  the  bush 
fruits  may  be  advantageously  set  in  alternate  rows 
with  beans  or  potatoes,  and  the  same  tillage  is  re- 
quired for  each  crop. 

Only  annual  crops  should  be  grown  in  fruit  plan- 
tations. The  growing  of  nursery  stock  in  orchards 
— a  frequent  practice  in  parts  of  the  north — should 
be  discouraged.*  This  crop  makes  essentially  the 
same  demands  upon  the  land  as  the  orchard  itself, 
and  it  does  not  allow  of  those  variations  in  culti- 
vation and  management  which  may  be  essential  to 
the  varying  seasons.  It  may  be  true  that  enough 
fertilizer  can  be  placed  upon  the  land  to  replace  the 
loss  of  plant-food,  but  it  is  rarely  done  ;  and,  more 
than  this,  the  nursery  stock  drinks  up  the  moisture 

*The  double-planting  of  fruit  lands— the  mixing  of  different  kinds  of  fruits 
—is  discussed  in  Chapter  V. 


172  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

which  should  be  used  by  the  orchard.  Nursery 
stock  is  known  to  be  particularly  hard  upon  land, 
so  much  so  that  nurserymen  seldom  grow  two  crops 
of  fruit-tree  stocks  in  succession  upon  the  same 
area;  but  this  injury  to  the  land  is  an  impairment 
of  physical  condition  rather  than  exhaustion  of  plant- 
food.  (See  Chapter  IV.) 

Sod  may  sometimes  be  allowed  in  an  orchard  if  it 
is  closely  pastured,  but  hay  should  never  be  cut.  Sod 
lands  are  not  only  drier  than  cultivated  ground,  but 
they  are  favorite  breeding  places  of  insects.  Borers 
are  particularly  bad  in  grass  land.  No  stone  fruits 
should  ever  be  allowed  to  stand  in  sod,  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  dwarf  pears.  Apples  and  standard 
pears  may  now  and  then  be  seeded  with  safety,  but 
it  is  certainly  true  that,  in  general,  fruit  decreases  in 
proportion  as  sod  increases.  Very  thrifty  young 
apple  and  pear  orchards  may  sometimes  be  thrown 
into  bearing  by  seeding  them  down  for  a  time,  but 
the  sod  should  be  broken  up  before  the  trees  become 
checked  in  vigor.  The  whole  question  as  to  whether 
sod  is  hurtful  or  beneficial  to  an  orchard  is  a  local 
one.  The  grower  must  determine  it  for  himself.  If 
the  orchard  is  in  sod  and  is  not  doing  well,  the  best 
advice  in  general  is  to  plow  and  till  it.  Certainly  it 
is  better  to  make  tillage  the  rule  and  sod  the  excep- 
tion, than  to  start  out  with  the  intention  of  growing 
an  orchard  in  grass  and  cultivating  it  only  when 
forced  to  do  so.  It  is  better  to  pasture  an  orchard 
than  to  allow  the  grass  to  grow  at  will,  but  close 
pasturing  can  by  no  means  take  the  place  of  tillage. 


Remedy  for    Unprofitable    Orchards.  173 

If  one  wants  to  raise  hay  or  grain,  it  is  cheapest  to 
grow  it  where  there  are  no  trees  to  bother.  If  he 
wants  to  grow  apples  or  grapes,  he  had  better  choose 
some  other  place  than  a  meadow  or  grain  field.  The 
use  of  clover  and  other  temporary  cover  crops  as  a 
means  of  fertilizing  the  land  is  another  matter,  and 
is  discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 

Most  apple  orchards  are  in  sod,  and  growers  are 
always  asking  if  they  shall  be  plowed  up.  If  the 
growers  of  apples  are  satisfied  with  the  crops,  let  the 
orchards  alone  ;  but  if  it  is  thought  that  better  crops 
are  desirable,  do  not  hesitate  to  make  an  effort  to 
obtain  them.  It  is  surprising  that  the  disastrous  fail- 
ures of  recent  years  have  not  awakened  farmers  to 
the  necessity  of  really  doing  something  for  their 
orchards.  Now  and  then  an  enterprising  man  makes 
an  energetic  attempt  and  is  rewarded,  but  the  greater 
number  continue  to  exercise  the  most  thoroughgoing 
neglect  and  to  bewail  the  failure  of  the  crop.  Yes, 
plow  the  old  apple  orchard;  then  fertilize  and  spray 
it.  Or,  if  the  roots  are  too  near  the  surface  to  allow 
of  plowing,  harrow  it  thoroughly  when  the  turf  is 
soft  in  spring,  and  continue  to  work  it  during  the 
season.  If  this  is  not  feasible,  then  pasture  it  closely 
with  sheep  or  hogs,  feeding  the  stock  at  the  same 
time.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  and  the  orchard  is 
unprofitable,  cut  it  down. 

When  orchards  begin  to  bear  well,  the  crops 
should  be  discontinued.  Young  orchards  may  some- 
times be  summer -fallowed  with  the  very  best  results 
if  the  land  is  hard  and  intractable.  This  fallowing 


174  The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 

is  clean  cultivation.  This  is  often  the  quickest  and 
cheapest  way  of  bringing  such  lands  into  fit  condi- 
tion for  the  growing  of  the  fruit,  and  the  longer 
the  process  is  delayed  after  the  plants  are  set,  the 
more  difficult  and  the  less  efficient  the  labor  will 
be.  This  summer -fallow  should  be  begun  very  early 
in  the  season  and  continued  until  midsummer,  at 
which  time  some  cover  crop  may  be  sown, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   FERTILIZING    OF   FRUIT  LANDS. 

ANY  land  which  is  fit  for  the  growing  of  crops 
will  maintain  a  fruit  plantation  throughout  its  exist- 
ence without  the  addition  of  plant -food,  and  enable 
the  trees  to  produce  at  the  same  time  a  normal  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  fruit.  But  the  profit  in  fruit- 
growing lies  in  securing  the  extra  normal  or  superior 
quantity  and  quality,  and  this  result  demands  fertiliz- 
ing of  the  land  and  every  other  good  care.  How 
much  plant -food  the  farmer  "should  add  to  his  laud 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  increase  or  profit  which 
he  secures.  It  is  a  matter  of  business,  an  item  of 
profit  and  loss.  If  the  fruit-grower  applies  five  tons 
of  fertilizer  to  every  acre  and  secures  a  profit  on  the 
investment,  the  quantity  is  none  too  large ;  but  in 
many  instances  it  is  a  loss  of  the  material  to  add 
anything.  The  successful  merchant  is  the  one  who  is 
dissatisfied  with  a  normal  and  common  trade,  but  he 
forces  the  demand  by  attracting  and  interesting  his 
customers  beyond  the  point  of  their  actual  needs. 

There  are  many  causes  which  contribute  to  the 
unsatisfactory  results  of  applying  fertilizers,  but  the 
commonest  one  is  lack  of  proper  tillage  and  prepara- 
tion of  the  land.  Poorly -tilled  land,  as  we  have 
(175) 


176  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

seen,  not  only  refuses  to  yield  up  its  own  stores  of 
wealth,  but  it  will  delay  and  even  preclude  the  good 
results  from  plant -foods  which  may  be  added  to  it. 
The  first  thing  to  do,  then,  is  to  make  it  possible 
for  the  plant  to  grow.  Make  the  physical  and  en- 
vironmental conditions  right,  and  the  addition  of 
plant -food  will  be  felt  and  appreciated.  The  plant 
must  be  made  comfortable  before  it  will  thrive.  A 
cow  will  not  relish  even  the  fanciest  ration  if  she 
shivers  with  cold. 

The  grower  must  set  himself  in  line  with  nat- 
ural methods.  He  must  see  that  the  soil  has  a 
good  supply  of  humus  or  decaying  organic  matter 
(got  from  crops  turned  under,  dressings  of  stable 
manure,  muck,  and  the  like),  and  that  it  generally 
has  some  cover  upon  it.  Early  in  the  season,  this 
cover  is  the  surface  mulch  of  cultivated  soil,  and 
later  it  is  the  cover  crop  of  rye  or  crimson  clover, 
or  something  of  the  kind. 

Nature  is  a  kindly  and  solicitous  mother.  She 
knows  that  bare  land  becomes  unproductive  land. 
Its  elements  must  be  unlocked  and  worked  over 
and  digested  by  the  roots  of  plants.  The  surface 
must  be  covered  to  catch  the  rains  and  to  hold 
the  snows,  to  retain  the  moisture,  and  to  prevent 
the  baking  and  cementing  of  the  soil.  The  plant 
tissues  add  fiber  and  richness  to  the  land,  and 
make  it  amenable  to  all  the  revivifying  influences 
of  sun  and  rain  and  air  and  warmth.  The  plant 
is  co -partner  with  the  weather  in  the  building  of 
the  primal  soils.  The  lichen  spreads  its  thin  sub- 


Evolution   of  Soils,  177 

stance  over  the  rock,  sending  its  fibers  into  the 
crevices  and  filling  the  chinks,  as  they  enlarge,  with 
the  decay  of  its  own  structure ;  and  finally  the 
rock  is  fit  for  the  moss  or  fern  or  creeping  vine,  each 
newcomer  leaving  its  impress  by  which  some  later 
newcomer  may  profit.  Finally  the  rock  is  disinte- 
grated and  comminuted,  and  is  ready  to  be  still 
further  elaborated  by  corn  and  ragweed.  Nature 
intends  to  leave  no  vacant  or  bare  surfaces.  She 
providently  covers  the  railway  embankment  with 
quack -grass  or  willows,  and  she  scatters  daisies  in 
the  old  meadows  where  the  land  has  grown  sick 
and  tired  of  grass.  If  one  pulls  up  a  weed,  he 
must  quickly  fill  the  hole  with  some  other  plant,  or 
nature  will  tuck  another  weed  into  it.  Man  is  yet 
too  ignorant  or  too  negligent  to  care  for  the  land, 
and  nature  must  still  stand  at  his  back  and  sup- 
plement the  work  which  he  so  shabbily  performs. 
She  knows  no  plants  as  weeds.  They  are  all 
equally  useful  to  her.  It  is  only  when  we  come  to 
covet  some  plant  that  all  those  which  attempt  to 
crowd  it  out  become  weeds  to  us.  If,  therefore,  we 
are  competent  to  make  a  choice  of  plants  in  the  first 
place,  we  should  also  be  able  to  maintain  the 
choice  against  intruders.  It  is  only  a  question  of 
which  plants  we  desire  to  cultivate. 

We  must  keep  the  land  at  work,  for  it  grows 
richer  and  better  for  the  exercise.  A  good  crop  on 
the  land,  aided  by  good  tillage,  will  keep  down  all 
weeds.  The  weeds  do  not  "run  out"  the  sod,  but 
the  sod  has  grown  weak  through  some  fault  of 


178  The    Principles   of  Fruit -{/rowing. 

our  own,  and  thus  the  dandelions  and  plantains  find 
a  chance  to  live.  So  the  best  treatment  for  a 
weedy  lawn  is  more  grass.  Loosen  up  the  poor 
places  with  an  iron  garden  rake,  scatter  a  little 
fertilizer,  and  then  sow  heavily  of  grass  seed.  Do 
not  plow  up  the  lawn,  for  then  you  undo  all  that 
has  been  accomplished ;  you  kill  all  the  grass  and 
leave  all  the  ground  open  for  a  free  fight  with 
every  ambitious  weed  in  the  neighborhood.  If  the 
farmer  occupies  only  half  the  surface  of  his  field 
with  oats,  the  other  half  is  bound  to  be  occupied 
with  mustard  or  wild  carrot  or  pigweed ;  but  if  his 
land  is  all  taken  with  oats,  few  other  plants  can 
thrive.  So,  a  weedy  farm  is  a  poorly  farmed  farm. 
But  if  it  does  get  foul  and  weedy,  then  what  ? 
Then  use  a  short,  quick,  sharp  rotation.  Keep  the 
ground  moving  or  keep  it  covered.  No  Russian 
thistle  or  live -for -ever  or  jimson-weed  can  ever  keep 
pace  with  a  lively  and  resourceful  farmer. 

THE     LESSON     OF     NURSERY    LANDS. 

The  injurious  effects  of  leaving  soils  bare,  and 
of  tilling  at  untimely  seasons,  are  well  illustrated 
in  most  nursery  plantations.  The  best  nursery 
lands  are  the  "strong"  lands,  or  those  which  con- 
tain a  basis  of  clay,  and  these  are  the  ones  which 
soonest  suffer  under  unwise  treatment.  The  nur- 
sery land  is  kept  under  clean  culture,  and  it  is, 
therefore,  deeply  pulverized.  There  is  practically  no 
herbage  on  the  soil  to  protect  it  during  the  winter. 


Depletion   of  Nursery   Lands.  179 

When  the  crop  is  removed,  even  the  roots  are 
taken  out  of  the  soil.  For  four  or  five  years,  the 
land  receives  practically  no  vegetation  which  can  rot 
and  pass  into  humus ;  and  then,  the  trees  are  dug 
in  the  fall,  often  when  the  soil  is  in  unfit  condition, 
and  this  fall  digging  amounts  to  a  fall  plowing.  The 
soil,  deeply  broken  and  robbed  of  its  humus,  runs 
together  and  cements  itself  before  the  following  sum- 
mer ;  and  it  then  requires  three  or  four  years  of 
"rest"  in  clover  or  other  herbage  crop  to  bring  it 
back  into  its  rightful  condition.  This  resting 
period  allows  nature — if  man  grants  her  the  privi- 
lege— to  replace  the  fiber  in  the  soil,  and  to  make  it 
once  more  so  open  and  warm  and  kindly  that 
plants  can  find  a  congenial  root -hold  in  it. 

The  following  synoptical  sketch  of  the  causes  of 
the  so-called  wearing -out  of  nursery  lands  will 
serve  to  bring  the  question  of  productivity  of  lands 
into  its  proper  relationships  and  perspectives :  * 

a.  The  fertility  of  the  soil. — There  are  two  analytical  means 
of  determining  the  fertility  of  the  land.  One  method  deter- 
mines the  chemical  constitution,  and  the  other  the  mechani- 
cal or  physical  condition. 

Chemistry  determines  the  amount  and  kind  of  plant-food 
in  the  soil,  but  it  cannot  tell  just  how  useful  this  food  may 
be  to  the  plant.  This  depends  upon  the  physical  condition 
of  the  land,  or  upon  the  relation  of  the  soil  to  warmth, 
moisture,  air  and  mechanical  constitution.  The  plant  is  not 
simply  a  passive  agent,  taking  in  the  food  which  is  pre- 
sented to  it,  but  it  is  actively  engaged  in  searching  for  and 
appropriating  food. 

*  L.  H.  Bailey,  before  American  Association  of  Nurserymen,  at  Chicago,  as 
reported  in  Garden  and  Forest,  June  24,  1896. 


180  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

The  actual  fertility  of  the  soil  depends,  therefore,  upon 
the  plant  as  well  as  upon  the  land.  The  better  and  more 
comfortable  the  plant,  the  more  food  it  can  appropriate  from 
a  given  soil ;  hence  that  soil  is  practically  the  richer.  The 
chemist  does  not  determine  the  physical  conditions  which 
make  the  plant  comfortable  and  active.  In  other  words,  the 
amount  of  plant-food  in  the  soil  is  only  one  of  the  ele- 
ments in  the  fertility  of  the  land. 

In  most  instances  as  much  depends  upon  the  physical 
condition  of  the  soil  as  upon  its  chemical  constitution,  and 
in  many  cases  even  more  depends  upon  it. 

Soil  is  derived  from  two  sources — rock  and  organic  mat- 
ter. Each  is  essential  to  it.  Without  the  rock  matter  it 
would  lose  body  and  staying  qualities.  Without  the  organic 
matter  it  would  lose  life,  or  "heart"  and  activity. 

Nature  adds  the  organic  matter  to  the  soil  by  growing 
plants  upon  it  and  then  incorporating  their  remains  with  it. 
Everywhere  the  process  of  soil -building  is  now  going  on. 
The  longer  the  soil  is  in  crops  the  richer  it  becomes,  al- 
though the  relative  amount  of  mineral  matter  which  it  con- 
tains may  be  decreasing  at  the  same  time. 

Nature  makes  the  soil  richer,  then,  both  by  fining  and 
digesting  the  mineral  matter  and  by  ameliorating  its  physical 
condition  through  the  incorporation  of  humus  or  organic 
matter. 

This  fining  process  must  ultimately  cease,  but  the  addi- 
tion of  humus  never  ceases.  The  final  and  complete  en- 
richment of  the  soil,  therefore,  must  come  largely  as  the 
result  of  the  incorporation  of  humus  with  it. 

The  chief  value  of  this  humus  is  not  to  directly  afford 
plant-food,  but  to  improve  the  conditions  of  temperature, 
moisture,  aeration  and  the  like. 

b.  Man's  treatment  of  the  land. — Man's  chief  desire  is  to 
use  the  organic  products  of  the  land.  He  consumes  the 
plant  product.  As  a  consequence,  cultivated  soils  soon  tend 
to  become  hard,  dense,  heavy  and  lifeless,  and  the  more 
clay-like  the  land  the  more  pronounced  is  the  result. 


The   Best   Nursery   Lands.  181 

The  best  and  richest  farm  soils  are  those  which  are 
loamy — that  is,  those  which  are  friable,  soft  and  dark-colored. 
This  loamy  condition  is  brought  about  largely  by  the  ad- 
dition of  stable -manures  and  green  crops. 

Every  ordinary  soil  tends  to  lose  its  humus  sooner  than 
its  mineral  plant-food,  and  most  so-called  exhausted  soils 
are  injured  in  their  physical  condition  rather  than  exhausted 
of  their  fertility. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  addition  of  mere  plant-food 
cannot  entirely  restore  the  generality  of  worn-out  lands. 
The  physical  condition  must  always  receive  first  attention. 
The  addition  of  concentrated  fertilizers  is  not  a  fundamental 
corrective  of  poor  lands  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases.  It 
should  be  considered  as  a  supplement  to  the  treatment  of  the 
land  by  means  of  tillage  and  cropping. 

If  man's  reward  from  the  cultivation  of  the  land  is  so 
unlike  nature's,  it  follows  that  one  cannot  copy  the  prac- 
tices of  nature  in  the  treatment  of  the  land.  Yet,  in  every 
generation,  there  are  men  who  proclaim  that  because  nature 
neither  plows  nor  tills,  therefore  man  should  not.  The  only 
infallible  guide  to  the  proper  treatment  of  the  soil  is  experi- 
ence, not  mere  science,  nor  speculation ;  but  science  explains 
the  laws  and  directs  the  application  of  them  when  once  ex- 
perience has  discovered  them. 

In  fact,  experience  is  law,  for  experience  that  persists  is 
that  which  gives  consecutively  uniform  results  under  like  con- 
ditions. All  experience  proves  that  frequent  tillage  and  the 
addition  of  humus  quickly  and  invariably  ameliorate  and  im- 
prove the  soil.  It  is  folly  to  attempt  to  controvert  the  facts 
by  mere  speculation.  On  the  other  hand,  experience  proves 
that  the  addition  of  chemical  fertilizers  does  not  invariably 
visibly  benefit  the  soil ;  therefore,  the  value  of  such  applica- 
tions must  depend  upon  local  or  transient  conditions. 

c.  The  nursery  lands. — The  best  nursery  lands,  at  least  in 
New  York  state,  are  those  which  contain  much  clay.  This 
soil  is  the  most  easily  injured  by  unwise  or  careless  treat- 
ment and  by  the  loss  of  organic  matter. 


182  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

The  nursery  crop  occupies  the  land  for  three  to  five  years. 
During  all  this  time  the  land  receives  no  addition  of  organic 
matter,  and  finally  even  the  roots  are  taken  out  of  it.  In 
very  many  cases  the  trees  are  planted  and  dug  when  the  soil 
is  wet  or  very  dry,  and,  it  is  therefore,  quickly  and  very  se- 
riously injured  in  its  "grain,"  or  its  physical  condition. 

Nurserymen  find  that  if  the  land  is  rested  in  clover  or 
grass  for  a  few  years  it  will  again  grow  trees.  This  rota- 
tion, like  all  others,  is  a  means  of  ameliorating  the  physical 
condition  of  the  soil  as  well  as  the  chemical  condition  of 
it.  A  part  of  the  rotation  must  aim  at  the  incorporation  of 
humus.  Therefore,  every  famous  rotation  has  a  "rest"  crop  in  it. 

An  incidental  advantage  of  any  rotation  is  the  variety  of 
tillage  imposed  by  it.  A  rotation  of  tools  and  of  methods 
and  seasons  of  working  the  land,  is  often  as  important  as 
the  other  results  of  alternate  cropping. 

Extended  figures  of  chemical  analyses*  of  nursery  stock 
show  that  the  amounts  of  potash,  phosphoric  acid  and  nitro- 
gen which  such  stock  removes  from  the  land  is  really  very 
small,  and  less  than  that  removed  by  similar  bulk  or  weight 
of  corn  or  wheat.  Experiments  now  being  made  show  that 
the  addition  of  concentrated  or  chemical  manures  to  heavy 
nursery  lands  does  not  promise  very  important  results ;  but 
there  are  greater  hopes  from  experiments  in  the  sowing  of 
crimson  clover  and  other  cover  crops  in  the  nursery  rows, 
and  in  the  use  of  stable  manures.  There  are  instances  of 
excellent  results  following  the  addition  of  stable  manure  to 
nursery  lands  between  the  trees  in  the  fall.  One  piece  of 
land  so  treated  has  grown  excellent  plum  trees  for  twenty 
consecutive  years.  There  is  no  necessary  reason  why  nursery 
stock  should  not  follow  nursery  stock  as  well  as  wheat  fol- 
low wheat,  except  that  the  land  is  usually  more  clay-like, 
the  rotation  or  cropping  is  longer,  and  the  addition  of  humus 
or  fiber  to  the  soil  is  less. 

d.   The  conclusions. — The  difficulty,  then,  is  not  one  of  amount 

*  Consult  10th  Rep.  N.  Y.  State  Exp.  Sta.  (1891),  and  Bull.  103,  Cornell 
Exp.  Sta.;  also  Rep.  Amer.  Assoo.  Nurserymen,  18SM5,  4.'l-45. 


Treatment   of  Nursery   Lands.  183 

of  plant -food  so  much  as  of  the  availability  of  that  food  by 
improving  the  physical  conditions  of  the  soil.  The  soil  must 
be  warm,  soft,  mellow,  and  the  plant  must  be  comfortable. 

The  trouble  is,  not  that  nursery  trees  take  so  much  from 
the  soil,  but  that  the  rotation  is  too  long,  the  fiber  is  burned 
out  of  the  soil,  and  much  of  the  working  of  the  land  is 
untimely. 

Certain  lands  are  not  readily  injured  by  nursery  cultiva- 
tion, and  these  may  grow  several  continuous  crops  of  trees. 

Now  and  then  the  nurseryman  can  augment  the  growth 
of  his  stock  by  extra  attention  to  tillage  (it  is  assumed  that 
he  always  tills  well),  and  by  the  addition  of  some  quick 
nitrogen  compound,  as  nitrate  of  soda ;  but  these  are  gener- 
ally only  temporary  correctives.  The  complete  or  fundamental 
corrective  for  nursery  land  is  rotation ;  but  the  length  of 
this  rotation  may  often  be  shortened,  or  even  entirely  re- 
duced, by  the  judicious  intercultural  use  of  stable  manures 
and  cover  crops. 

The  conclusion  was  made  that  the  physical  condition  of 
the  soil  is  a  subject  of  greater  or  earlier  importance  than 
its  chemical  constitution  ;  that  the  value  of  rotation  of  crops 
lies  largely  in  its  ameliorating  effect  upon  the  physical  con- 
dition, and  that  nursery  lands  are  no  exception  in  demand- 
ing such  rotation.  Instead  of  thinking  it  strange  that  trees 
do  not  readily  follow  trees,  we  should  rather  think  it  strange 
if  they  did.  Because  the  crop  is  of  several  years'  duration, 
it  becomes  necessary  that  the  alternating  cropping  should  also 
be  extended.  A  system  of  rotations  must  be  practiced  in 
blocks  of  years,  not  in  single  years.  But  this  alternating 
cropping  can  be  greatly  shortened  by  giving  greater  attention 
to  the  addition  of  fiber  to  the  soil  while  the  nursery  stock 
is  growing.  There  are  instances  in  which  the  alternation 
may  be  made  short,  and  some  in  which  there  need  be  hardly 
any.  Professor  Bailey  said  that  he  did  not  look  for  a  gen- 
eral corrective  of  the  depletion  of  nursery  land,  therefore,  by 
the  addition  of  concentrated  or  chemical  fertilizers,  but  by 
better  management  of  the  lands. 


184  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


COVER    CROPS. 

A  cover  crop*  is  one  which  is  used  for  the  par- 
ticular purpose  of  securing  its  mulching  and  phys- 
ical effect  upon  the  land  in  the  intervals  between 
the  regular  crops  or  the  normal  seasons  of  tillage. 
A  sowed  crop  in  the  orchard  may  be  valuable  in 
two  ways:  by  affording  a  cover  to  the  land,  and  by 
improving  the  soil  when  it  is  plowed  in.  As  a 
cover,  it  may  keep  down  weeds,  and  protect  the  land 
from  injurious  effects  of  frost.  As  a  green  manure, 
it  may  add  fiber  to  the  soil,  and  thus  augment  its 
power  of  holding  fertility  and  moisture,  and  it  may 
add  directly  to  the  fertility  of  the  land.  This  late 
crop  catches  and  holds  the  leaching  nitrates  which 
the  tree -roots  utilize  earlier  in  the  season.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  the  cover  crop  may  be  said  to  improve 
the  soil  in  eight  ways: 

I.  It    directly    improves    the    physical    condition    of 
the   land  : 

Prevents    hard    soils    from    cementing    or    pud- 
dling ; 
Holds    the    rains    and    snows    until    they   have 

time   to   soak    away    into   the   land ; 
Dries    out    the    soil    in    spring,    making    early 

tillage    possible  ; 
Sometimes  serves  as  a  protection  from  frost. 

*Tenn    first    used   in    this    connection    in    Bull.    61,    Cornell    Exp.   Sta.   333 
(Dec.  1893). 


Cover    Crops   and  Moisture.  185 

II.  It  improves  the  chemical  conditions  of  the  soil: 

Catches   and    holds   some   of    the    leaching    ni- 
trates ; 

Adds   humus; 

Renders  plant-foods  available; 

Appropriates  nitrogen,  if  it  is  leguminous. 
As  a  rule,  crops  grown  for  cover  alone  should 
be  sown  not  earlier  than  midsummer.  The  most 
thorough  tillage  can  then  be  given  early  in  the  sea- 
son, and  the  benefits  of  the  cover  can  be  secured 
for  the  early  fall  and  winter.  It  is  generally  advis- 
able to  grow  a  crop  which  answers  for  both  a  cover 
and  green  manure,  although  it  is  easily  possible  to 
make  the  soil  too  nitrogenous  for  some  fruits  by 
the  extravagant  use  of  such  fertilizers.  It  will  also 
be  observed,  from  the  above  enumeration  of  the  bene- 
fits arising  from  cover  crops,  that  crops  which  are 
killed  by  the  winter  may  still  be  exceedingly  use- 
ful. The  reader  must  also  be  reminded,  in  passing, 
that  much  of  the  value  of  the  cover  crop  depends 
upon  its  being  plowed  under  very  early  in  spring, 
as  explained  in  the  last  chapter. 

There  is  much  confusion  in  the  popular  mind 
concerning  the  relation  of  cover  crops  to  moisture. 
Some  contend  that  any  crop  which  shades  the  ground 
will  keep  the  surface  moist  and  conserve  moisture, 
whilst  others,  knowing  that  all  plants  exhale  water, 
consider  that  any  crop  tends  to  make  the  land  dry. 
Both  these  opinions  are  partly  correct.  A  crop 
which  occupies  the  soil  the  entire  season,  and  which 
does  not  allow  of  cultivation,  will  make  the  land 


186  The    Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

dry,  whilst  one  sowed  late  in  the  season  upon  land 
which  has  been  thoroughly  tilled  during  May,  June 
and  July,  does  not  seriously  rob  the  soil  of  mois- 
ture. At  all  events,  there  need  be  no  fear  of  dry- 
ing out  the  soil  by  sowing  a  late  crop,  for  the 
serious  injury  of  drought  is  usually  effected  before 
such  crops  are  established,  and  rainfall  is  then  becom- 
ing abundant ;  and  the  tree  needs  to  be  checked, 
rather  than  stimulated,  at  this  season,  by  the  trans- 
fer of  the  nitrates  and  moisture  to  other  plants. 
The  most  marked  way  in  which  such  crops  conserve 
moisture  is  by  means  of  the  fiber  and  humus  which 
they  impart  to  the  soil  when  plowed  under ;  but 
even  this  humus  cannot  compete  with  cultivation  as 
a  retainer  of  moisture. 

An  experiment  at  Cornell*  illustrates  the  value 
of  cultivation  over  a  green  crop  occupying  the  land 
the  entire  season,  in  a  dry  year.  The  orchard  is 
a  hard  clay, — just  the  soil  which  is  benefited  by  the 
loosening  effects  of  green  manures.  The  orchard  was 
divided  into  three  portions  in  1890,  a  year  after 
the  trees  were  set.  One -third  has  received  liberal 
annual  dressings  of  commercial  fertilizers,  and  has 
been  well  tilled ;  another  third  has  had  no  treat- 
ment except  good  tillage ;  and  the  remaining  third 
has  had  liberal  applications  of  potash,  and  has  then 
been  sown  early  to  a  nitrogenous  (leguminous)  green 
crop.  This  third  portion  has  simply  been  plowed 

*Bull.  72,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.  This  experiment  has  not  yet  progressed  far 
enough  for  report  upon  methods  of  fertilizing,  and  is  mentioned  here  only 
for  the  purpose  of  contrasting  methods  of  cultivation. 


Cover    Crops   vs.    Tillage.  187 

and  fitted  well  each  spring,  and  then  sown,  having 
received  no  subsequent  tillage.  The  crops  were  all 
plowed  under  the  following  spring.  The  following 
are  the  crops : 

1890.  Mixed   beans.     Sowed   June    16. 

1891.  Field   peas.     Sowed   June   24. 

1892.  Vetch.     Sowed   June    16. 

1893.  Cow    peas.     Sowed   June    19. 

1894.  Field   peas.     Sowed  June    14. 

Here,  then,  is  a  chance  to  compare  the  effects 
of  tillage  with  humus  in  a  season  of  almost  unpre- 
cedented drought.  Upon  September  1,  1894,  the  green 
manured  strip  was  much  the  driest  portion  of  the 
orchard.  The  tree  growth  in  this  portion  was  much 
less  vigorous,  and  the  leaves  were  perceptibly  lighter 
colored,  than  on  the  adjacent  plots.  Even  the  unfer- 
tilized but  well  tilled  tract  showed  a  better  foliage. 
In  this  green  manure  portion,  leaves  on  peach  trees 
were  then  beginning  to  yellow  and  fall  from  the  effects 
of  drought,  whilst  the  same  rows,  when  they  struck 
the  other  plots,  showed  perfect  foliage.  In  apricots 
the  effects  were  also  marked.  Pears  and  plums  also 
showed  the  differences.  In  the  cultivated  portions  one 
could  easily  stir  up  loose  earth  with  the  toe  of  his 
boot,  while  in  the  green  manured  part  one  had  to 
dig  from  six  to  ten  inches  in  a  hard  soil  before  he 
could  find  visible  moisture.  Careful  tests  showed  the 
same  fact.  Samples  of  soil  were  taken  to  the  depth 
of  one  foot  on  September  1,  by  means  of  a  soil 
sampler,  eight  samples  being  lifted  from  representa- 
tive parts  of  both  the  tilled  and  untilled  areas. 


188  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Four  of  these  samples  were  combined  into  one,  and 
this  mixture  constituted  the  complete  sample  which 
was  used  in  a  test  for  moisture  ;  that  is,  there  were 
two  samples  of  untilled  soil  and  two  of  tilled  soil, 
but  each  of  these  was  made  up  of  four  other  sam- 
ples selected  from  various  parts  of  the  areas.  These 
samples  were  carefully  weighed,  and  were  then  equally 
fire -dried  and  weighed  again.  The  loss  in  weight 
represents  the  comparative  content  of  free  water  in 
the  different  samples.  The  results  are  as  follows  : 

Sample  I.  Sample  II. 

Moisture  in  tilled  soil,  per  cent 11.3  12.8 

Moisture  in  untilled  soil,  per  cent 8.7  9.6 

In  addition  to  this  difference  in  moisture  between 
the  two  areas,  it  should  be  said  that  in  the  tilled 
land  it  was  distributed  to  within  two  inches  or  less 
of  the  surface,  while  in  the  untilled  land  the  first 
few  inches  was  exceedingly  dry.  In  other  words, 
in  the  tilled  land  nearly  the  entire  soil  was  in  con- 
dition to  part  with  its  fertility,  while  in  the  other 
the  uppermost  and  richest  soil  was  inactive. 

All  this  emphasizes  the  fact  that  tillage  alone  is 
better  than  green  manuring  alone;  but  the  best  re- 
sults would  no  doubt  have  been  obtained  if  good  till- 
age had  been  given  for  two  or  three  months,  and  if 
the  green  crop  had  been  sown  in  July  or  August. 
In  general,  this  combination  is  an  excellent  one  for 
orchards,  particularly  for  such  lands  as  lack  nitrogen 
and  vegetable  matter,  and  for  those  fruits  which 
are  benefited  by  winter  protection  of  the  soil. 


Choice   of  Cover    Crops.  189 

The  kinds  of  cover  crops. — It  will  now  be  asked 
what  is  the  best  plant  for  cover  and  green  manure. 
It  is  hard  to  tell.  Clover  is  a  stand-by,  but  it 
often  fails  to  "catch"  late  in  the  season,  and  it 
should  stand  011  the  land  an  entire  season  in  order 
to  obtain  its  full  value.  Upon  good  and  well- 
tilled  lands  and  in  favorable  seasons,  considerable 
herbage  can  be  obtained  for  turning  under  in  the 
spring  if  it  is  sown  the  preceding  August  or  Sep- 
tember ;  but  in  general  it  is  unreliable  as  an  annual 
crop,  and  is  not  adapted  to  fruit  lands. 

It  should  be  said  at  the  outset  that  the  choice 
of  the  proper  crop  for  the  covering  of  an  orchard 
is  a  local  matter,  the  same  as  the  determination  of 
the  method  of  tillage  or  the  kind  of  fertilizer  is. 
There  is  also  no  one  cover  crop  which  is  best  for  all 
purposes  and  all  conditions.  The  grower  must 
study  the  condition  of  his  trees  and  his  land,  and 
then  judge  as  best  he  may  what  course  he  shall  pur- 
sue. Nature's  cover  crops,  at  least  upon  farms,  are 
weeds,  and  these  may  be  useful  if  allowed  to  grow 
in  the  fall  after  the  tillage  is  completed.  The 
difficulty  is  that  they  cannot  always  be  relied  upon  to 
cover  the  land  at  the  time  when  they  are  wanted, 
most  of  them  do  not  live  through  the  winter,  and 
they  are  very  likely  to  become  a  serious  nuisance. 
It  is  best,  therefore,  to  substitute  some  other  plant 
for  the  weeds.  In  approaching  the  question  of  the 
choice  of  cover  crops,  the  grower  must  remember  that 
there  are  two  great  classes  in  respect  to  their 
power  to  gather  nitrogen.  The  one  class  is  nou- 


190  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

leguminous,  comprising  those  plants  which  take  only 
such  nitrogen  as  has  already  been  worked  over  into 
available  form  by  plants  or  animals;  the  other  class  is 
the  leguminous  plants,  comprising  those  which  have 
the  power  of  appropriating  and  utilizing  free  nitrogen. 
For  purposes  of  cover  and  protection,  the  non- legu- 
minous crops  may  be  just  as  good  as  the  nitrogen- 
gatherers,  and  when  the  fruit  plants  are  growing 
very  vigorously  they  may  be  decidedly  better  than  the 
others  because,  by  not  adding  nitrogen,  they  do  not 
over -stimulate  the  growth.  A  rotation  of  cover  crops 
will  nearly  always  be  found  to  be  important.  It  is 
perfectly  possible  to  put  so  much  nitrogen  into  the 
land  that  the  trees  or  plants  grow  too  vigorously 
or  too  late  in  the  season.  This  may  be  especially 
apparent  upon  peaches,  apricots,  grapes,  and  the 
like.  It  should  also  be  said  that  some  of  the  most 
useful  of  these  cover  crops  will  not  thrive  upon  hard 
and  intractable  land,  and  in  such  cases  a  rougher 
and  coarser  crop  must  be  used. 

The  golden  scale  of  cover  crops  for  orchards  be- 
gins with  rye  and  ends  with  crimson  clover.  Lands 
which  are  very  sandy  and  leachy,  as  well  as  those 
which  are  hard  and  lumpy,  are  usually  not  adapted  to 
the  growth  of  crimson  clover,  especially  in  the  north. 
Such  lands  must  be  gradually  ameliorated  by  the  use 
of  other  plants,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  best  plant  to 
begin  with  is  rye.  This  plant  thrives  upon  a  great 
variety  of  soils,  it  demands  little  preparation  of  the 
land,  the  seeds  are  large  and  germinate  at  a  low  tem- 
perature, it  can  be  sown  late  in  the  season  after 


Kinds   of  Cover    Crops.  191 

cultivated  crops  are  removed,  and  it  is  exceedingly 
hardy.  Rye  may  be  sown  upon  the  very  moment  of 
the  freezing  up  of  the  land,  and  it  will  sometimes 
germinate  the  following  spring.  It  is  ordinarily  best, 
however,  to  sow  it  about  a  month  or  six  weeks 
before  the  land  is  expected  to  freeze  up  ;  and  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  a  cover,  not  less  than  one  and 
one -half  bushels  should  be  sown  to  the  acre  when 
orchards  are  young.  When  the  trees  have  begun  to 
shade  the  ground,  a  less  quantity  will  answer. 

Another  plant  which  is  sometimes  used  to  begin 
the  amelioration  of  intractable  lands  is  Indian  corn, 
sown  broadcast  very  thickly,  six  weeks  or  two  months 
before  killing  frost.  Although  it  does  not  stand 
the  winter,  it  nevertheless  affords  an  excellent  cover 
for  the  land  and  supplies  besides  a  large  amount 
of  herbage. 

Buckwheat  may  be  used  for  the  same  purpose, 
sown  so  late  in  the  season  that  it  will  reach  its 
full  height  but  will  not  go  to  seed.  There  is  danger, 
however,  of  using  buckwheat  too  much,  and  only 
an  occasional  crop  of  it — if  any  at  all — should  be 
used  upon  orchards  which  are  growing  upon  the  hard 
types  of  lands. 

Turnips  and  rape  are  also  to  be  recommended 
in  certain  cases.  Turnips  sown  late  in  July  in  the 
north  make  a  complete  cover  of  the  land,  and  fur- 
nish so  much  bulk  and  moisture  as  to  greatly 
improve  the  character  of  the  soil  when  they  are 
plowed  under  the  following  spring.  Turnips  are 
especially  good  to  begin  the  process  of  improve- 


192  The   Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

ment  upon  certain  hard  lands  which  are  much  in- 
clined to  be  dry. 

Oats,  wheat,  barley,  millet,  and  various  other 
quick -growing  crops  may  be  utilized  as  covers,  but 
they  are  less  adapted  to  the  purpose  than  those 
which  have  been  mentioned.  In  order  to  impress 
the  different  qualities  of  cover  crops  upon  the 
mind,  it  may  be  well  to  say  that  rye  and  corn,  and 
the  like,  are  to  cover  crops  what  pigs  and  mules 
are  to  domestic  animals. 

Amongst  the  leguminous  crops  are  the  various 
kinds  of  peas,  beans,  vetches,  and  the  clovers.  If 
it  is  desired  to  grow  a  leguminous  crop  upon  land 
which  is  hard  and  dry,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
choose  those  with  large  and  quick -germinating  seeds, 
like  the  beans  and  the  field  peas.  Common  field 
beans  may  be  sown  broadcast  late  in  the  season, 
and  if  they  can  have  six  weeks  of  uninterrupted 
growth,  will  make  a  good  cover  before  killed  by 
frost.  Canada  peas  are  not  injured  by  the  early 
frosts  of  fall,  and  therefore  may  be  sown  later. 
At  the  Cornell  Station,  peas  sown  as  late  as  the 
20th  of  September  reached  a  height  of  about  six 
inches,  and  were  large  enough  to  afford  a  fairly  good 
cover,  if  they  were  sown  very  thick.  But,  in  gen- 
eral, in  the  northern  states,  it  is  advisable  to  sow 
riot  later  than  the  last  of  August  or  the  first  of 
September. 

The  cow  pea  (Vigna  Sinensis)  can  often  be  used 
to  the  greatest  advantage,  especially  in  the  middle 
and  southern  states,  where  the  long  seasons  allow 


Cow   Peas  for    Cover.  193 

it  to  make  a  most  luxuriant  and  satisfactory  growth. 
In  fact,  it  is  probably  destined  to  fill  the  office  in 
the  southern  states  that  the  red  clover  does  in  the 
north,  and,  if  properly  used,  can,  no  doubt,  be  made 
the  means  of  filling  the  burned -out  soils  of  the 
south  with  fresh  life  and  vigor.  It  is  killed  by  the 
earliest  frost,  and  is,  therefore,  not  advisable  at  the 
north,  unless  sown  early  or  upon  land  which  is  in 
good  condition,  so  that  it  may  obtain  a  quick  start. 
Experiments  with  this  plant  have  been  made  at  the 
Cornell  Station,*  with  the  following  results:  "Six- 
teen varieties  were  grown  at  the  Station  this  year 
[1893]  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  which  ones 
will  mature  in  this  latitude ;  and  over  half  an  acre 
was  sown  to  the  Black  pea,  which  Professor  Massey, 
of  North  Carolina,  thought  likely  to  prove  the  best 
variety  for  our  purpose.  These  black  peas  were 
obtained  of  L.  R.  Wyatt,  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  and  were 
sown  June  20.  The  land  was  clay,  and  variable  in 
contour,  comprising  two  dryish  knolls,  with  a  moist 
vale  lying  between  them.  The  peas  were  slow  in 
starting,  owing  to  the  hard  soil,  but  they  made  a 
fair  growth  in  August  and  early  September.  In  the 
vale,  the  plants  grew  nearly  two  feet  high  and  cov- 
ered the  ground  well,  but  on  the  knolls  the  soil 
was  not  covered.  The  plants  had  just  begun  to 
flower  when  they  were  killed  by  the  first  frost. 
The  leaves  fell  off,  and  the  bare,  stiff  stems  now 
afford  very  little  protection  to  the  soil. 

*Bull.  61,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.,  334. 

N 


194  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

"The  varieties  of  cow  peas,  grown  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  the  earliness  of  the  various 
kinds,  were  sown  May  31,  in  rich  garden  loam. 
These  peas  were  obtained  from  the  Experiment 
Stations  of  North  Carolina,  Arkansas  and  Louisiana. 
The  varieties  ripening  seeds  are  ten,  as  follows: 

Black,  from  North  Carolina. 

Black  Eye,  North  Carolina. 

Blue,  Louisiana. 

California     Bird's      Eye,     Arkansas      (Dolichos 

sesquipedalis) . 
Clay,  North  Carolina. 
Gray  Prolific,  North  Carolina. 
Large  White,  Louisiana. 

Whippoorwill,  North  Carolina,  Arkansas,  Louis- 
iana. 

Yellow  Prolific,  North  Carolina. 
Yellow  Sugar  Chowder,  Arkansas. 
"The   varieties   which    did    not    mature    seeds    are 
the  following: 

Black,  from  Louisiana. 
Brown  Eye,  Arkansas. 
Clay,  Louisiana. 
Conch,  North  Carolina. 
Indian,  Louisiana. 
King,  Louisiana. 
Lady,  Louisiana. 
Purple  Hull,  Louisiana. 
Stewart,  North  Carolina. 

"The  varieties  which  seemed   best  adapted  to  this 


Vetcli  for    Cover.  195 

latitude  were  the  Black  and  Whippoorwill.  The  lat- 
ter fruited  also  at  Lansing,  Michigan,  in  1887.  It 
will  be  seen  that  there  appears  to  be  a  difference 
between  samples  of  the  same  variety  coming  from 
different  sources.  The  Black  pea  from  North  Caro- 
lina seed  matured  well,  but  that  from  Louisiana 
stock  was  too  late.  The  same  difference  occurred 
in  the  Clay.  This  is  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, and  it  emphasizes  the  importance  of  securing 
seed  from  the  northernmost  station,  when  choosing 
stock  for  growing  in  the  north.  On  the  whole, 
the  Black  cow  pea  seems  best  adapted  to  growing 
in  central  New  York.  A  small  patch  of  this  was 
sown  on  a  rich,  loose  soil  July  17,  and  the  plants 
made  as  heavy  growth  as  those  sown  upon  the  clay 
soil  nearly  a  month  earlier.  But  the  cow  pea  af- 
fords so  much  less  winter  protection  to  the  soil 
than  the  vetch,  without  any  counterbalancing  ad- 
vantages, that  it  can  scarcely  be  recommended  for 
an  orchard  cover  in  the  north."  Upon  mellower 
and  moister  lands,  however,  good  results  have  fre- 
quently been  obtained  with  cow  peas  in  the  northern 
states,  and  they  are  growing  in  favor. 

The  use  of  the  vetch  or  tare  as  a  cover  plant 
was  brought  forward  by  the  Cornell  Station,*  and 
reported  upon  in  1892,  as  follows:  "Orchard  lands 
are  nearly  always  benefited  by  some  cover  or  mulch 
during  a  part  of  the  year,  especially  during  fall 
and  winter.  One  of  the  values  of  sod  lies  in  the 
protection  to  the  soil,  but  a  sod  cannot  be  obtained 

*Bull.  49,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.,  1892. 


196  The    Principles    of   Fruit-growing. 


Fig.  20.     A  good  stand  of  vetch,  in  November.     Sown  in  early  July. 

in  a  single  season.  If  orchards  can  be  cultivated  in 
spring  and  early  summer,  and  then  protected  with 
some  growth  which  will  shade  the  soil  and  keep 


Experiment   icith   the    Vetch.  197 

it  moist  during  the  remainder  of  the  warm  weather, 
and  afford  some  protection  from  frost  during  winter, 
the  best  results  will  undoubtedly  be  obtained,  as  a 
rule.  This  cover  crop  should  also  afford  fertiliz- 
ing materials  to  the  soil  when  turned  under,  and 
greatly  improve  the  mechanical  character  of  the  soil 
as  well. 

"  The  leguminous  plants  —  those  belonging  to  the 
clover  family  —  at  once  suggest  themselves,  because 
they  are  rich  in  nitrogen,  and  may  therefore  serve 
both  as  cover  and  fertilizer.  We  have  tried  mixed 
beans  and  field  peas,  but  there  are  objections  to  both, 
although  either  one  is  probably  better  than  weeds  or 
bare  ground.  This  year  we  have  tried  the  European 
vetch  or  tare  (Vicia  sativa) ,  seed  of  which  we  ob- 
tained of  J.  M.  Thorburn  &  Co.,  New  York.  This 
plant  is  grown  for  forage  in  England.  A  half  bushel 
of  seed  was  sown  June  16  upon  five -eighths  of  an  acre 
of  heavy  clay  loam.  It  was  sown  broadcast  upon  a 
freshly  prepared  surface,  and  well  dragged  in.  The 
seed  could  have  been  sown  later  with  equally  as  good 
effect,  no  doubt,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  orchard 
could  have  been  continued  for  ten  days  or  two  weeks 
longer.  The  young  trees  of  pear,  plum  and  apricot 
have  made  an  excellent  growth  this  year  among  the 
vetch.  The  vetch  started  somewhat  slowly,  and  the 
seeding  seemed  to  have  been  too  thin ;  but  by  the 
middle  of  September  the  ground  was  covered  thickly. 
Frost  came  October  1,  but  the  vetch  was  not  injured, 
and  it  continued  to  grow  until  the  middle  of  the 
month,  and  remained  green  still  longer.  It  made  a 


198  The    Principles   of  Fruit- growing . 

remarkable  cover,  growing  knee-high  in  a  dense  mat, 
and  everywhere  completely  covering  the  ground.  It 
began  to  flower  in  September,  but  no  seeds  ripened 
except  upon  a  few  poor  spots.  Upon  light  soils, 
seeds  would  probably  form  freely,  but  the  plant  is 
an  annual,  and  is  not  likely  to  become  a  weed. 
The  roots  do  not  extend  deep.  With  the  approach 
of  hard  freezing  weather,  the  stalks  fell  upon  the 
ground,  where  they  now  lie  like  a  thin,  even  cover- 
ing of  old  hay.  The  stems  are  soft,  and  can  be 
easily  plowed  under  in  spring,  and  will  soon  decom- 
pose; and  they  will  not  keep  the  soil  wet  too  late 
in  spring,  which  is  an  important  point  upon  clay 
soils." 

The  following  year  a  second  report  was  made 
upon  it:  "The  vetch  is  an  annual  leguminous  plant, 
which  continues  its  growth  long  after  frost,  and 
which  mats  down  with  the  snow  into  a  perfect, 
carpet -like  covering.  In  the  spring,  the  vines  are  so 
well  decayed  that  the  cover  can  be  plowed  under 
easily.  The  vetch  can  be  sown  late  in  June  or  early 
in  July  in  this  state,  and  the  plants  will  cover  the 
ground  with  a  dense  tangled  mulch  two  feet  deep 
when  winter  sets  in.  Last  year  (1892),  we  sowed 
the  vetch  June  16.  This  year  we  sowed  one  area 
.Tune  20,  and  another  June  28.  Both  made  an  ideal 
mulch,  and  the  plants  were  green  and  still  grow- 
ing late  in  November.  They  produced  no  seeds,  and 
but  very  few  flowers.  About  a  bushel  of  seed 
should  be  sown  to  the  acre.  The  seed  is  large 
and  germinates  readily,  and  is  likely  to  catch  at 


Crimson    Clover  for    Cover.  199 

almost  any  time  during  the  summer.  Some  idea  of 
the  dense  growth  of  the  vetch  this  year  may  be 
obtained  when  I  say  that  one  patch  overcame  and 
obscured  a  heavy  growth  of  horse-radish  which  had 
been  in  the  ground  two  years.  I  am  confident  that 
upon  fairly  good  soil,  good  results  can  be  obtained 
with  vetch  sown  as  late  as  the  middle  and  possibly 
the  last  of  July." 

Crimson  or  scarlet  clover  was  brought  emphati- 
cally to  the  fore  as  a  cover  plant  for  orchards  by 
the  Delaware  Experiment  Station*  in  1892.  It  has 
been  the  occasion  of  much  speculation  and  much 
misunderstanding.  Like  other  novelties,  it  has  been 
hailed  by  some  as  a  plant  which  is  bound  to  revo- 
lutionize orchard  management  and  to  make  planta- 
tions productive;  and  others,  who  have  failed,  have 
discouraged  its  use  entirely.  The  fact  is,  as  already 
pointed  out,  that  crimson  clover  is  only  one  step  or 
round  in  the  ladder  of  cover  crops,  and  it  is  ordi- 
narily the  last  and  the  highest.  By  this  it  is  meant 
that  it  will  not  thrive  upon  hard  or  poorly  tilled 
land.  It  must  be  sown  in  midsummer  or  a  trifle 
after,  when  the  ground  is  likely  to  be  dry.  The 
seeds  are  small  and  oily,  and  the  grower  is  very 
likely  to  fail  in  securing  a  "catch."  Upon  the  better 
tilled  lands,  however,  crimson  clover  may  be  expected 
to  succeed  as  often  as  any  other  plant  of  its  class 
will.  People  have  also  made  a  mistake  in  expecting 
too  heavy  a  growth  of  herbage  in  the  crimson  clover. 
It  is  an  annual  plant,  normally  completing  its  entire 

*Bnll.  16,  Del.  Exp.  Sta.,  March,  1892. 


200  The    Principles    of  Fru^- growing. 

growth  in  a  single  season.  When  sown  at  midsea- 
son,  therefore,  it  should  not  be  expected  to  yield  a 
very  heavy  crop.  If  it  should  arrive  at  that  stage 
when  it  nearly  or  wholly  covers  the  surface  of  the 
ground  with  a  thin,  close  mat,  it  will  have  reached 
its  most  profitable  condition.  Neither  is  it  necessary 
that  the  plant  should  stand  the  winter  and  grow  in 
the  spring.  Turnips,  maize,  vetch,  and  other  tender 
plants  are  known  to  be  very  useful  as  orchard  cov- 


A  good  stand  of  crimson  clover  as  it  looks  before  growth  has  begun 
in  the  spring. 

ers,  although  they  pass  the  winter  in  the  dead  state. 
If  the  crimson  clover  passes  the  winter  and  grows 
in  the  spring,  much  will  be  gained;  but  if  it  should 
not  pass  the  winter,  nothing  will  be  lost.  In  respect 
to  the  proper  time  for  sowing  crimson  clover,  it  may 
be  said  that  if  it  is  sown  very  early  in  the  season 
(that  is,  before  the  first  of  July),  it  is  likely  to  be- 
come too  large  and  ripe,  and  be  killed  by  the  win- 
ter; if  it  is  sown  too  late  (that  is,  after  the  middle 


Legumes   as   Fertilizers.  201 

of  August  in  the  north),  it  will  ordinarily  not  attain 
sufficient  foothold  to  be  able  to  withstand  the  heav- 
ing by  frost.  Crimson  clover  may  be  sown  amongst 
Indian  corn  at  the  last  cultivation,  but  in  orchards  it 
is  ordinarily  sown  from  the  middle  of  July  to  the 
middle  of  August  in  the  north,  upon  a  well  prepared 
seed-bed,  and  is  then  lightly  dragged  in.  In  old  or- 
chards, six  quarts  to  the  acre  is  a  sufficient  amount 
of  seed;  in  open  lands,  about  eight  quarts  are  re- 
quired. 

The  following  analyses  show  the  fertilizer  values 
of  the  various  leguminous  plants  here  discussed. 
The  vetches  and  peas  were  analyzed  at  the  Cornell 
Station.  The  analysis  of  cow  peas  is  taken  mostly 
from  Professor  Teller's  recent  studies  in  Arkansas, 
those  of  clovers  from  reliable  sources  for  comparison: 

VETCH,  READY   TO    BLOOM,  BOOTS   AND   TOPS. 

Original  substance.  Dry  substance. 

Nitrogen 65    percent.  3.1    percent. 

Phosphoric  acid 146       "  .7        " 

Potash 475       "  2.28       " 

Water 79.15 

PEAS,  2   TO   3    FEET   HIGH,  NO   FLOWERS,  ROOTS   AND  TOPS. 
Original  substance.        Dry  substance. 

Nitrogen 451  per  cent.       2.33  per  cent. 

Phosphoric  acid 113       "  .58       " 

Potash 361       "  1.86       " 

Water 80.61 

PEAS,  6  INCHES  HIGH,  ROOTS  AND  TOPS. 

Original  substance.  Dry  Substance. 

Nitrogen 34    per  cent.  2.43  per  cent. 

Phosphoric  acid 086       "  .62       " 

Potash 179       "  1.28       " 

Water...  ..  86.05 


202  The    Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

COW   PEAS    (WHIPPOOKWILL)    IN    BLOSSOM,    STRAW   ONLY. 

Original  substance.  Dry  substance. 

Nitrogen 618  per  cent.  3.09  per  cent. 

Phosphoric  acid 1          "  .5 

Potash 396       "  1.98       " 

Water...  . .  80.  " 


RED   CLOVER— AVERAGE    OF    SEVERAL   ANALYSES. 

Original  substance.  Dry  substance. 

Nitrogen 41  per  cent.  2.05  per  cent. 

Phosphoric  acid 13       "  .66        " 

Potash 45       "  2.24 

Water...  ...80. 


CRIMSON   CLOVER    (TRIFOLIUM   INCARNATUM). 

Original  substance.        Dry  substance. 

Nitrogen 43  per  cent.  2.45  per  cent. 

Phosphoric  acid 13       "  .74        " 

Potash 49       '•  2.80        " 

Water ...82.50       " 


FERTILIZING    THE    FRUIT    PLANTATION. 

Having  now  discussed  how,  by  tillage  and  cover 
crops,  the  land  may  be  made  fit  for  the  growing 
of  fruit  plants,  we  come  to  the  question  of  what 
plant -foods  may  be  added  to  the  soil.  It  should 
first  be  said  that  fruit  plants  use  up  plant -foods 

NOTE.    The  following  figures  show  the  approximate  quantities  of  seed  which 
are  recommended  per  acre  for  cover  crops  in  young  orchards  : 


Barley 2  to  2%  bus. 

Beans IK  to  2   " 

Buckwheat J    " 

Clover,  crimson 8  to  16  Ibs. 

-red 6tol2    " 

Corn 2%  to  3  bus. 

Cow  pea 2 


Millet 1  to  IK  bus. 

Oats 2Kto3  " 

Pea 2to3  " 

Rye I%to2%   " 

Turnip 3  to  4  Ibs. 

Vetch 1  bus. 

Wheat 2  to  2%  " 


Plant -food   Removed   by    Trees.  203 

the  same  as  other  crops,  and  yet  the  common  neglect 
of  orchards  seems  to  show  that  many  people  think 
otherwise,  or  else  do  not  think  at  all.  In  fact,  the 
depletion  of  the  land  by  fruit  trees  is  more  serious 
than  by  annual  crops,  from  the  fact  that  plant- 
foods  are  locked  up  for  many  years  in  the  trunks 
and  branches  of  the  trees,  whilst  a  large  part  of  the 
fertilizing  constituents  in  common  crops  returns  to 
the  soil  each  year.  On  the  other  hand,  it  should  be 
said  that  the  roots  of  trees  have  a  larger  foraging 
area  than  the  roots  of  small  crops  do.  This  is  well 
shown  in  Figs.  17  and  18  (pages  160  and  162).  The 
former  shows  the  roots  running  far  away  in  the 
poorly  tilled  soil  in  search  of  food,  and  the  latter 
shows  the  home -stay ing  roots  in  the  rich  soil. 

Roberts  has  computed,*  from  analyses,  the  values 
of  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  taken  from 
an  acre  by  apple  trees  (the  trees  thirty -five  feet 
apart)  in  twenty  years,  counting  in  ten  crops  of 
fruit : 

Value. 

"  Total  in  fruit  for  twenty  years $147.00 

Total  in  leaves  for  twenty  years 160.51 

Total  in  wood  for  life  of  tree 70.00 

Grand  total $377.51 

"The  value  of  nitrogen,  etc.,  in  any  given  case  is 
so  indefinite  and  variable  that  stress  should  not  be 
laid  on  values  as  given  above,  but  on  the  total 
amounts  of  plant -food  used  by  the  orchard. 

*Bull.   103,  Cornell  Exp.  Station. 


204  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

"The  total  amount  of  nitrogen,  exclusive  of  that 
used  in  the  growth  of  the  trees,  is  1,336.8  pounds, 
of  phosphoric  acid  310  pounds,  and  of  potash  1,895.4 
pounds.  To  restore  the  potash  alone,  as  above,  and 
that  used  by  the  growth  of  the  tree,  it  would  re- 
quire 21.69  tons  of  high-grade  ashes  containing  5 
per  cent  of  potash.  To  restore  the  nitrogen  as 
above,  would  require  16.19  tons  per  acre  of  a  com- 
mercial fertilizer  containing  5  per  cent  of  nitrogen. 

"How  much  of  this  plant -food  is  usually  fur- 
nished to  the  orchard  by  leguminous  plants  and  by 
feeding  supplementary  foods  to  animals  which  graze 
upon  it,  and  how  much  by  the  fallen  leaves  and 
apples  which  are  not  blown  or  carried  off,  cannot 
be  told. 

"While  some  of  the  computations  and  conclusions 
are  based  on  estimates,  yet  it  is  believed  that  the 
tables  represent  average  conditions,  and  need  only 
the  good  judgment  of  the  observant  reader  to  make 
them  apply  to  his  individual  case  with  such  degree 
of  accuracy  as  to  give  valuable  aid  in  the  care  and 
feeding  of  orchards. 

"Many  old  orchards  have  not  only  been  making 
these  large  demands  on  the  soil  for  the  last  twenty 
years,  but  in  many  instances  the  land  has  been  used 
for  the  production  of  hay  or  grain,  or  more  fre- 
quently for  the  growing  of  lambs  or  pigs,  with 
little  or  no  supplementary  food.  The  grazing  of 
orchards,  especially  with  growing  animals  without 
extra  food,  is  as  certain  to  deplete  the  land  as  grain 
raising,  though  the  soil  robbery  is  not  so  rapid. 


Plant -food    Consumed   by   Apples.  205 

"These  investigations,  when  considered  in  all  their 
bearings,  lead  one  to  wonder  not  why  old  orchards 
are  failing,  but  why  they  have  not  ceased  to  pro- 
duce merchantable  fruit  long  since." 

Another  calculation  by  the  same  investigator 
shows  the  amount  of  plant -food  which  may  be  ex- 
pected to  be  carried  away  in  the  fruit,  and  blown 
off  in  the  leaves  (not  computing  the  amount  in  the 
wood),  for  the  period  between  the  ages  of  13  and 
33  years  of  apple  trees : 

Apples.               Leaves.  Value. 

"  Nitrogen ; 498.60  Ibs.  456.75  Ibs.  $143.30 

Phosphoric  acid 38.25    "  126.        "  11.50 

Potash 728.55    "  441.        "  52.63 

Total  value $207.45 

"While  the  above  results  are  reached  by  assum- 
ing a  given  amount  of  apples  and  leaves  per  year 
in  a  bearing  orchard,  and  while  the  facts  in  any 
given  case  at  any  given  time  may  vary  widely,  yet 
it  is  believed  that  they  are  valuable,  as  they  fur- 
nish a  means  of  measuring  in  any  given  case,  with 
a  great  degree  of  accuracy,  the  amount  of  soil  ex- 
haustion." 

He  also  "shows  that  an  average  crop  of  apples 
removes  in  round  numbers  eleven  pounds  of  nitro- 
gen, nearly  one  pound  of  phosphoric  acid  and  six- 
teen pounds  of  potash,  and  that  the  leaves  of  a 
tree  large  enough  to  produce  the  apples  would  con- 
tain ten  pounds  of  nitrogen,  nearly  three  pounds  of 
phosphoric  acid  and  ten  pounds  of  potash,  or  a  total 


206  The   Principles    of  Fruit -grotving. 

of  twenty -one  pounds  nitrogen,  three  pounds  phos- 
phoric acid,  twenty -six  pounds  potash." 

"As  a  clearer  comprehension  is  had  by  comparing 
unfamiliar  things  with  familiar  things,  a  table  follows 
which  gives  in  brief  the  soil  exhaustion  which  is 
likely  to  occur  from  a  continuous  twenty -year  wheat 
production.  Here,  again,  an  average  yield  has  been 
assumed  which,  while  approximately  correct  for  New 
York,  may  be  wide  of  the  mark  in  some  states  where 
the  average  yield  of  wheat  falls  to  eight  or  ten  bush- 
els per  acre. 

"The  following  tables  show  the  amounts  and 
values  of  the  fertilizing  ingredients  removed  by  wheat 
(grain  and  straw)  in  twenty  years'  continuous  crop- 
ping, assuming  an  average  yield  of  fifteen  bushels  per 
acre  and  seven  pounds  of  straw  to  three  pounds  of 
grain: 

"COMPOSITION   OF   WHEAT  AND   STRAW. 

Water,  Nitrogen,     Phos.  acid,       Potash, 

per  cent.  per  cent.       per  cent.        per  cent. 

Grain  . . 


Straw  

12.56 

.559 

.12 

.51 

AND   IN   TWENTY  YEARS. 

Nitrogen, 
Ibs. 

Phos,  acid, 
Ibs. 

8.01 
160.20 

Potash, 
Ibs. 

5.49 
109.80 

Total 
value. 

$3.99 
79.86 

Grain,  20  years.  . 

....   424.80 

Straw,  1  year 
Straw,  20  years.  .  , 

...     11.74 
,...  234.78 

2.52 
50.40 

10.71 
214.20 

2.42 
48.37 

Total  value  in  wheat,  grain  and  straw  for  20  jears.  $128.23 
Total  value  in  apple,  fruit  and  leaves  for  20  years. .  207.45 

'The   above  table  shows  that  the  orchard  requires, 


Needs  of  Fruit    Trees.  207 

if  fruitful,  plant -food  equal  in  value  to  about  eighty 
dollars  more  than  the  wheat.  No  one  would  think 
for  a  moment  of  trying  to  raise  wheat,  even  on  our 
best  New  York  land,  for  twenty  consecutive  years, 
even  though  the  soil  was  fitted  in  the  best  possible 
manner  j^early." 

Respecting  the  need  of  fertilizers  for  orchards, 
Voorhees  writes  as  follows:*  "It  is  argued  by  many, 
and  sometimes  by  those  who  should  know  better,  that 
fruit-growing  is  quite  similar  to  growing  trees;  that 
the  question  of  soil  exhaustion  is  not  a  matter  of 
very  great  importance,  provided  the  soil  is  well  culti- 
vated, and  that  all  soils  contain  sufficient  quantities 
of  the  food  elements  to  insure  the  relatively  small 
available  "supply  required  from  year  to  year. 

"It  is  admitted  that  on  soils  of  good  mechanical 
condition,  well  drained  and  cultivated,  which  are 
naturally  adapted  for  fruit  as  well  as  other  crops,  be- 
cause well  supplied  with  the  essential  constituents — 
nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  potash,  and  lime  —  the 
exhaustion  arising  from  the  continuous  removal  of 
crops  will  not  become  apparent  for  a  long  time, 
but  it  should  be  emphasized  that  it  is  only  upon 
soils  which  possess  these  characteristics  that  the 
growth  of  fruit,  even  poor  fruit,  can  be  continued 
for  any  considerable  period  without  the  application  of 
manures." 

"It  is  obvious  that  such  specific  results  as  have 
been  obtained  concerning  the  needs  of  general  farm 

*E.  B.  Voorhees,  "Manuring   Orchards",   before   Mass.  Hort.    Soc.   Mar.  28, 
1896. 


208  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

crops,  as  grain  and  grass,  for  specific  plant -food  ele- 
ments, cannot  be  applied  with  any  degree  of  accuracy 
to  fruit  crops,  particularly  the  larger  fruits,  as  pears, 
apples,  peaches,  grapes,  and  plums,  because  these  dif- 
fer from  the  cereals,  grasses,  and  vegetables,  first,  in 
their  habits  of  growth,  second,  in  the  character  of 
the  produce,  and  third,  in  their  relation  to  soil  ex- 
haustion. 

"In  the  first  place,  farm  crops,  as  a  rule,  require 
but  one  year  for  the  entire  processes  of  vegetation 
and  maturation.  For  fruit  crops,  with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions, the  purely  vegetative  processes  continue  for 
at  least  three  years,  and  with  many  kinds  much 
longer,  while  after  the  fruit -bearing  period  begins  the 
vegetative  processes  do  not  cease,  but  are  coincident 
with  the  growth  and  ripening  of  the  fruit.  In  the 
second  place,  the  product  of  the  harvest,  namely,  the 
fruit,  differs  very  materiallj*  in  its  character  from 
that  of  ordinary  farm  crops,  which  mature  their  fruit 
and  die  in  one  season,  because  a  whole  season  is  re- 
quired for  its  growth  and  development;  that  is,  it  is 
necessary  that  there  shall  be  a  constant  transfer  of 
the  nutritive  juices  from  the  tree  to  the  fruit 
throughout  the  entire  growing  season,  while  the 
growth  for  each  succeeding  year  of  both  tree  and 
fruit  is  dependent  upon  the  nutrition  acquired  and 
stored  up  in  buds  and  branches,  as  well  as  upon  that 
which  may  be  derived  directly  from  the  soil.  In  the 
third  place,  the  relation  of  fruit-growing  to  soil  ex- 
haustion is  very  different  from  that  in  general -crop 
fanning,  because  in  orchards  there  is  an  annual  de- 


Needs   of  Fruit    Trees,  209 

mand  for  specific  kinds  and  proportions  of  soil  con- 
stituents; it  is  really  a  continuous  cropping  of  the 
same  kind;  there  is  no  opportunity,  as  in  the  case 
of  ordinary  farm  crops,  to  correct  the  tendency  to 
exhaustion  by  a  frequent  change  of  crops,  or  the 
frequent  growth  of  those  which  require  different  kinds 
and  amounts  of  plant -food  constituents. 

"In  studying  methods  of  manuring  orchards,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  admitted  that  the  general  princi- 
ples of  manuring  which  apply  to  fruits  apply  quite 
as  well  to  farm  crops;  that  is,  the  essential  con- 
stituents of  manures  must  be  the  same.  A  fruit  tree 
will  not  make  normal  growth  in  a  soil  destitute  of 
nitrogen.  That  nitrogen  encourages  leaf -growth  is  a 
recognized  fact,  and,  since  trees  grow  by  means  of 
both  leaf  and  root,  its  presence  is  required  in  the 
soil  in  order  to  promote  the  growth  and  extend  the 
life  of  the  tree.  It  is  very  evident,  too,  that  pot- 
ash is  an  essential  constituent  in  the  growth  of 
fruits,  not  only  because  it  constitutes  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  ash  of  the  wood  of  the  apple,  pear, 
cherry,  and  plum,  and  more  than  50  per  cent  of 
the  ash  of  fruit,  but  because  it  forms  the  base  of 
the  well-known  fruit  acids  ;  and  in  order  to  nourish 
a  tree  properly,  as  well  as  to  insure  proper  ripen- 
ing, phosphoric  acid  is  also  very  essential,  though  it  is 
apparent  from  such  investigations  as  have  been  made 
that  this  constituent  is  relatively  of  less  importance 
than  for  the  cereals. 

"It  is  also  a  matter  of  common  observation  that, 
in  the  production  of  stone-fruits  particularly,  lime 


210  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

is  au  important  constituent.  Its  function  seems  to 
be  to  strengthen  the  stems  and  woody  portion  of 
the  tree,  to  shorten  the  period  of  growth,  and  to 
hasten  the  time  of  ripening.  Fruit  trees  growing  on 
soils  rich  in  lime  show  a  stocky,  steady,  vigorous 
growth,  and  the  fruit  ripens  well,  while  those  on 
soils  which  contain  but  little  lime,  particularly  the 
clays,  appear  to  have  an  extended  period  of  growth, 
the  result  of  which  is,  that  the  wood  does  not 
mature  and  the  fruit  does  not  ripen  properly." 

Voorhees  also  reports*  an  experiment  in  the  fer- 
tilizing of  peaches,  showing  large  gains  in  crop  from 
the  separate  use  of  stable  manure  and  fertilizer. 
"It  is  interesting  to  observe,"  he  writes  —  "and  it 
is  a  point  of  great  importance  —  the  effect  of  an 
abundance  of  food  in  overcoming  unfavorable  weather 
or  seasonal  conditions.  The  year  1889  was  extremely 
unfavorable,  and  the  crop  throughout  the  state  [New 
Jersey]  was  small.  In  this  experiment  the  unmanured 
plot  yielded  at  the  rate  of  ten  and  nine -tenths  bas- 
kets per  acre,  while  the  manured  and  fertilized  plots 
both  showed  a  yield  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
fifty  baskets  per  acre.  The  manure  strengthened  and 
stimulated  the  trees,  and  enabled  them  successfully 
to  resist  such  conditions  as  were  fatal  to  the  crop 
on  the  unmanured  land.  This  point  is  one  that 
is  seldom  considered  in  calculating  the  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  proper  manuring,  though  it  is  of 
extreme  value,  since  the  expenses  of  cultivation,  trim- 

*See,  also,  Repts.  N.  ,T.  Exp.  Sta., 


Stable   Manures  for   Fruits.  211 

ining,  and  interest  on  investment  are  quite  as  great 
in  one  case  as  in  the  other." 

Stable  manure. — The  kinds  of  fertilizing  applica- 
tions are  of  two  types,  stable  manures  and  concen- 
trated or  commercial  plant -foods.  The  stable  manures 
exercise  a  most  important  effect  upon  the  physical 
features  of  the  soil,  and,  in  fact,  this  is  often  their 
greatest  value.  In  this  respect,  stable  manures  may 
answer  much  the  same  purpose  as  green  or  cover 
crops,  particularly  if  they  are  applied  in  fall  or 
early  winter.  When  manure  is  not  sufficient  to 
cover  the  entire  plantation,  it  should  be  applied  to 
the  hardest  and  driest  spots  only,  and  these  spots 
should  be  observed  and  noted  the  previous  season. 
Lands  which  are  so  hard  or  dry  that  even  rye  will 
not  catch,  may  be  got  under  way  for  the  cover 
crops  by  liberal  applications  of  barn  manures.  Rota- 
tion in  the  use  of  fertilizers  may  be  found  to  be 
as  useful  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  cover  crops.  A 
soil  which  has  had  a  liberal  application  of  stable 
manure  one  year,  may  profit  more  by  some  chemical 
fertilizer  the  next  year. 

In  orchards  which  are  thoroughly  tilled,  the  use 
of  barn  manures  should  sometimes  be  discouraged, 
for  the  chief  element  of  fertility  in  them— if  they 
are  not  leached — is  usually  nitrogen.  This  advice  is 
particularly  applicable  to  vineyards,  and  all  other 
fruits  which  run  very  strongly  to  wood.  In  such 
cases,  it  is  better  economy  to  apply  the  manures  to 
the  annual  crops  of  the  farm.  The  old,  neglected 
apple  orchards  of  the  country,  however,  may  receive 


212  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

barn  manures  with  safety;  yet,  even  here  it  is  a 
question  if  economy  would  not  dictate  tillage  and 
late  green  manures  to  supply  the  nitrogen,  except, 
perhaps,  for  a  season  or  two  when  an  attempt  is 
making  to  rejuvenate  an  orchard.  Mulching  a  sod 
orchard  with  manure  often  gives  fairly  good  results 
in  cases  in  which  the  land  cannot  be  cultivated  ;  but 
better  results  in  the  way  of  fertilizing  and  in  freedom 
from  weeds  and  insects  can  be  obtained  by  pastur- 
ing closely  writh  sheep  or  swine. 

Chemical  fertilizers.  —  Nitrogen,  potassium  and 
phosphorus  are  the  elements  which  need  to  be  ap- 
plied to  orchard  lands ;  and  to  these  should  some- 
times be  added  lime,  mostly  for  its  secondary  effects 
upon  the  soil. 

Nitrogen  is  particularly  efficacious  in  promoting 
growth.  "The  general  tendency  of  nitrogenous  ma- 
nures is  toward  the  excessive  production  of  wood 
and  foliage,"  writes  E.  F.  Smith,  after  having  mado 
many  explicit  experiments  upon  peach  trees.*  In 
fact,  the  amount  of  growth  and  the  color  of  foliage 
are  reliable  guides  for  the  application  of  nitrogen. 
When  mature  or  bearing  trees  make  a  foot  or 
more  of  growth  upon  all  shoots,  and  when  the 
leaves  are  of  good  size  and  dark  color,  the  orchard 
probably  has  enough  nitrogen.  A  free  application 
of  nitrogen  to  such  orchards  might  do  more  harm 
than  good,  in  promoting  growth  at  the  expense  of 
fruit,  or,  in  the  case  of  some  stone  fruits,  in  pro- 

*  Bull.  9,  Section  of  Veg.  Path.,  Botanical  Div.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr...  142. 


Nitrogen  for    Orchards.  213 

dueing  a  poorly  matured  growth,  which  will  be  likely 
to  suffer  in  winter.  Orchards  are  grown  for  fruit, 
not  for  forestry  purposes.  In  general,  it  is  better 
to  supply  nitrogen  by  good  cultivation — which  assists 
nitrification — and  an  occasional  green -manure  crop, 
than  by  the  application  of  nitrogenous  fertilizers. 
If  the  orchard  is  not  growing,  and  is  yellowish  in 
foliage,  good  cultivation — begun  early  and  repeated 
very  frequently — in  connection  with  the  use  of  pot- 
ash, phosphoric  acid  and  green  manures,  will  com- 
monly correct  it.  It  is  probable  that  lack  of 
moisture  is  quite  as  much  the  cause  of  the  weak- 
ness as  lack  of  nitrogen,  particularly  if  the  orchard 
has  been  in  sod.  Now  and  then  a  tree  will  be 
found  wrhich  fails  to  respond  to  ordinary  treatment. 
If  the  tree  is  healthy — that  is,  not  attacked  by  dis- 
ease or  borers— it  may  sometimes  be  brought  into 
a  vigorous  condition  by  applying  to  it  a  light 
dressing  of  nitrate  of  soda ;  but  this  treatment 
need  seldom  be  applied  to  an  entire  orchard  which 
has  been  well  handled. 

An  experiment  made  by  the  Cornell  Station  (Bul- 
letin No.  153)  gave  very  decided  results  from  the  use 
of  nitrate  of  soda  alone.  An  apple  orchard  about 
twenty-five  years  old  and  unproductive,  standing 
upon  a  rather  hard  and  dryish  light  clay  loam,  was 
plowed  in  the  fall  of  1894,  and  certain  trees  were 
given  an  application  of  ten  pounds  of  nitrate  of 
soda.  Contiguous  rows  received  heavy  applications 
of  sulfate  of  potash  and  muriate  of  potash.  All 
materials  were  applied  August  11,  1894.  The  or- 


214  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

chard  was  plowed  again  in  the  fall  of  1895,  and  a 
third  time  in  the  spring  of  1896.  •  None  of  the 
dressings  showed  any  effect  in  1895,  but  in  1896 
the  trees  which  had  received  the  nitrate  of  soda 
were  very  remarkably  supeilor  to  those  which  had 
received  the  other  treatments  and  to  those  which 
had  received  none.  They  had  very  much  heavier 
and  darker  green  foliage,  so  that  they  could  be 
readily  distinguished  many  rods  away,  and  they  had 
a  heavier  load  of  fruit,  which  was  larger  and  finer 
than  that  upon  the  other  trees.  This  heavier  crop 
was  probably  not  due  to  more  profuse  blossoming, 
but  to  a  less  dropping  of  young  apples.  In  1897, 
the  trees  still  showed  the  effect  of  the  nitrogen.  In 
1898,  all  effects  were  lost,  and  the  trees  and  fruits 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  those  which  were  un- 
treated. 

Nitrogen -fertilizing  often  exerts  a  decided  influ- 
ence in  delaying  the  maturity  of  fruit,  and  it  is 
worth  while  to  consider  the  application  of  such  fertil- 
izers to  winter  apples  which  tend  to  ripen  too  early. 
These  fertilizers  also  tend  to  the  production  of  low 
colors  in  fruit.  Lodeman  found,*  as  the  result  of 
experiment,  that  "the  apples  produced  upon  the 
plot  which  was,  in  all  probability,  the  richest  in 
nitrogen,  were  late,  and  they  were  also  poorly 
colored." 

Potash  is  generally  the  most  important  element 
to  be  applied  directly  to  orchards,  particularly  after 

*  Rural  New-Yorker,  Jan.  2,  1897,  2. 


Potash  for   Fruits.  215 

the  trees  have  reached  bearing  age.  The  store  of 
available  potash  in  the  soil  is  much  increased  by 
the  thorough  tillage  which  has  already  been  recom- 
mended, but  in  bearing  orchards  it  should  also  be 
supplied  every  year  in  some  commercial  form.  One 
of  the  best  sources  of  potash  for  orchards  is  wood 
ashes,  but  this  material  is  'so  often  weakened  by 
leaching  that  it  cannot  be  confidently  recommended. 
A  good  sample  of  unleached  hard  wood  ashes 
should  contain  from  5  to  9  per  cent  of  potash, 
but  some  of  the  commercial  article  does  not  analyze 
above  2  to  3  per  cent.  Potash  in  this  form  has 
a  trade  value  of  4%  cents  per  pound.  To  this 
value  of  wood  ashes  should  also  be  added  2  per 
cent  or  less  of  phosphoric  acid,  now  worth  6  cents 
a  pound.  Forty  to  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre  is 
considered  to  be  a  good  dressing  of  wood  ashes, 
if  it  has  been  kept  dry. 

Muriate  of  potash  is  perhaps  the  best  and  most 
reliable  form  in  which  to  secure  potash  at  the 
present  time  for  fruits.  Commercial  samples  gener- 
ally contain  from  80  to  85  per  cent  of  muriate  of 
potash,  or  about  50  per  cent  of  actual  potash. 
Kainit  is  an  impure  muriate  of  potash,  containing 
about  12  to  15  per  cent  of  potash.  An  apple  or- 
chard in  full  bearing  and  upon  loose  soil  may 
receive  as  high  as  one  thousand  pounds  of  muriate 
of  potash  per  acre,  but  a  normal  and  economical 
application  is  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  three 
hundred  pounds,  if  applied  every  year.  Sulfate  of 
potash  is  also  thought  to  be  a  good  form  in  which 


216  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

to  buy  potash.  The  commercial  article  analyzes  50 
per  oent  or  less  of  actual  potash.  Sylvinit  is  a 
lower  grade  of  potassium  fertilizer.  Its  value — like 
that  of  other  materials  mentioned — should  be  reck- 
oned upon  the  amount  of  potash  present. 

Phosphoric  acid  may  be  obtained  in  the  form  of  a 
high-grade  plain  superphosphate  (like  dissolved  South 
Carolina  rock),  in  bone  compounds,  and  Thomas 
slag.  The  plain  superphosphate  contains  about  16 
or  18  per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  two  hun- 
dred to  five  hundred  pounds  per  acre  is  a  liberal 
and  very  useful  dressing  for  bearing  orchards.  The 
bone  fertilizers  are  always  valuable.  Those  which 
are  untreated  give  up  their  phosphoric  acid  slowly, 
unless  they  are  very  finely  ground.  Dissolved  bone 
gives  more  immediate  results.  Thomas  or  basic  slag, 
which  is  yet  less  known  to  farmers  in  this  country, 
has  given  good  results  in  many  tests,  but  it  parts 
with  its  fertility  very  slowly.  It  is  yet  too  early 
to  recommend  this  material  for  orchards  with  full 
confidence. 

In  general,  phosphoric  acid  is  probably  less  im- 
portant in  fruit  plantations  than  potash,  although 
this  order  is  reversed  in  general  farming.  Potash 
should  undoubtedly  be  the  leading  factor  in  orchard 
fertilizers,  and  nitrogen  may  be  obtained  largely,  or 
even  wholly,  in  some  cases,  by  means  of  tillage  and 
green  crops.  It  will  then  be  seen  that  the  use  of 
combined  or  "  complete "  commercial  fertilizers  may 
not  be  economical.  The  best  results  are  to  be  ex- 
pected when  the  fruit-grower  observes  closely  the 


Fertilizing    Orchards.  217 

behavior  of  his  trees  and  then  applies  such  materials 
as  the  plants  appear  to  need.  Any  of  the  mate- 
rials mentioned  in  the  foregoing  remarks  may  be 
mixed  together,  so  that  the  phosphorus  and  potas- 
sium can  be  applied  at  the  same  sowing.  It  should 
be  said,  however,  that  if  wood  ashes  is  mixed  with 
a  nitrogenous  fertilizer,  some  loss  of  nitrogen  may 
ensue,  unless  the  material  is  used  at  once.* 

Voorhees  givest  the  following  "practical  sugges- 
tions" for  the  fertilizing  of  orchards:  "A  system  of 
manuring  for  cultivated  orchards,  based  upon  the 
limited  data  at  our  disposal,  may  be  outlined  as 
follows  : 

"To  provide  vegetable  matter  and  to  improve  the 
physical  quality  of  poor  soils,  apply  yard  manure 
once  in  four  years,  in  fall  or  winter,  at  the  rate 
of  from  five  to  ten  tons  per  acre.  To  aid  in  the 
decomposition  of  vegetable  matter,  and  to  insure  a 

*To  answer  inquiries  concerning  the  prices  of  fertilizing  materials,  it  may 
be  said  that  muriate  of  potash  costs  $40  and  upwards  per  ton,  sulfate  about 
$48,  dissolved  boneblack  about  $24,  ground  bone  about  $30,  kainit  about  $13, 
and  nitrate  of  soda  2%  cents  per  pound.  These  prices  vary,  of  course,  with 
the  composition  or  mechanical  condition  of  the  materials.  The  average  com- 
position of  nnleaehed  ashes  in  the  market  is  about  as  follows  :  Potash,  5.25 
per  cent ;  phosphoric  acid,  1.70  per  cent ;  lime,  34  per  cent  ;  magnesia,  3.40 
per  cent.  The  average  composition  of  kainit  is  13.54  per  cent  potash,  1.15 
per  cent  lime.  The  composition  of  sylvinit  (which  is  said  to  be  known  as 
sulfate  of  potash  in  some  quarters)  is  about  16  per  cent  of  potash,  in  the 
form  of  both  muriate  and  sulfate,  mostly  the  former.  The  fact  that  the 
soil  itself  is  the  greatest  storehouse  of  plant-food  is  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing average  of  thirty-five  analyses  of  the  total  content  of  the  first  eight 
inches  of  surface  soils,  per  acre  :  3,521  pounds  of  nitrogen,  4,400  pounds  of 
phosphoric  acid,  19,836  pounds  of  potash.  Much  of  this  is  unavailable,  but 
the  good  tillage  and  cover  cropping  which  have  been  recommended  tend  to 
unlock  it. 

t  E.  B.  Voorhees,  address  before  Mass.  Hort.  Soc.  Mar.  28,  1896. 


218  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

sufficiency  of  lime  as  plant -food,  apply  lime  at  the 
rate  of  twenty -five  bushels  per  acre  once  in  five 
years.  To  provide,  in  addition,  an  abundance  of  all 
forms  of  available  plant -food  at  the  times  needed 
for  the  development  of  the  tree  and  fruit,  apply 
annually  chemical  fertilizers  in  the  following  pro- 
portions : 

"Nitrate  of  soda 100  Ibs. 

South  Carolina  rock  superphosphate 100    " 

Ground  bone 200    ' ' 

Muriate  of  potash 200    ' ' 

"The  amounts  to  be  applied  depend  upon  the 
character  of  the  soils,  as  previously  outlined,  the 
kind  of  fruit,  and  the  age  and  vigor  of  the  tree ; 
these  given  perhaps  mark  the  minimum. 

"In  a  number  of  best  orchards  the  quantities 
applied  are  very  much  larger  than  is  here  indicated, 
and  the  larger  application  is  believed  by  the  grow- 
ers to  be  proportionately  profitable. 

"By  the  recent  introduction  of  crimson  clover, 
we  have  a  plant  admirably  adapted  to  supply  cheaply 
nitrogenous  vegetable  matter  for  orchards,  and  its 
growth  is  to  be  recommended  wherever  the  plant 
can  be  successfully  grown,  instead  of  the  use  of 
barnyard  manure,  particularly  upon  the  poorest  soils, 
until  they  are  abundantly  supplied  with  vegetable 
matter.  The  clover  should  be  plowed  down  early  in 
the  season,  in  order  not  to  retard  the  spring  growth 
of  the  trees.  Where  the  conditions  are  favorable 
for  the  growth  of  clover,  the  application  of  nitrate, 
of  soda  mav  be  omitted." 


Wliat    Treatment   is   Needed.  219 

Summary  statement. — The  fruit-grower  will  no 
doubt  desire  to  ask  how  he  is  to  tell  just  what 
kind  and  what  quantity  of  fertilizers  to  apply  to 
his  land.  This  is  one  of  those  questions  which  no 
person  can  answer  for  him.  Having  studied  the 
matter  carefully,  and  having  observed  his  plantation 
from  day  to  day  and  year  to  year,  he  should  be 
able  to  discover  about  the  treatment  which  it  needs. 
As  a  general  statement,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
fruit  plantation  which  is  giving  satisfactory  results 
is  receiving  the  very  treatment  which  it  needs  ;  but 
when  it  is  giving  unsatisfactory  yields,  some  change 
in  the  management  should  be  made.  An  orchard 
which  is  in  sod  and  not  doing  well  should  certainly 
be  plowed  and  tilled.  One  which  is  tilled  and  is  not 
doing  well  may  be  benefited  by  seeding  down,  or 
it  may  not.  If  the  growth  is  strong  and  rapid,  and 
the  trees  or  vines  seem  to  be  going  to  wood  at  the 
expense  of  fruit,  then  some  check  may  be  necessary. 
This  cheek  may  be  given  by  seeding  down  for  a 
time,  by  giving  somewhat  less  thorough  or  ••prolonged 
cultivation,  or  by  the  use  of  rather  more  mineral 
fertilizers  and  less  nitrogenous  ones.  In  all  cases 
in  which  the  growth  is  not  sufficient  and  the  leaves 
are  yellow  and  drop  early,  it  is  probable  that  either 
more  nitrogen  or  more  moisture,  or  both,  is  needed. 
As  a  general  principle,  it  may  be  said  that  nitrogen 
can  be  had  in  sufficient  amount  by  thorough  and 
judicious  tillage,  by  the  use  of  leguminous  cover 
crops,  and  by  stable  manure.  In  some  cases,  how- 
ever, quicker  and  cheaper  results  may  be  had  by 


220  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

the  direct  addition  of  nitrogenous  materials,  like 
nitrate  of  soda,  sulfate  of  ammonia,  or  some  of  the 
animal  compounds. 

The  grower  should  also  remember  that  the  plants 
need  all  the  elements  of  plant  growth,  and  not  one 
of  them  alone.  For  example,  a  heavy  application  of 
nitrogen  upon  soil  which  is  deficient  in  potash  and 
phosphoric  acid  cannot  be  expected  to  give  useful 
results.  In  the  same  way,  the  application  of  pot- 
ash to  soil  which  is  very  poor  in  nitrogen  or  phos- 
phoric acid  would  be  comparatively  useless.  The 
heavy  loamy  or  clay  lands  nearly  always  contain 
an  abundance  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  in 
a  more  or  less  unavailable  condition,  and  much  of 
these  materials  can  be  liberated  to  the  plant  by  care- 
ful tillage  and  the  incorporation  of  humus.  How- 
ever, it  is  nearly  always  advisable,  in  orchards 
which  are  bearing,  to  add  these  materials  in  the 
shape  of  manures  or  concentrated  fertilizers.  The 
quickest  results  following  the  use  of  fertilizers  will 
be  seen  *upon  the  sandier  lands.  Two  or  three 
years  often  elapse  after  the  application  of  chemical 
fertilizers  to  heavy  lands  before  any  decided  results 
are  observed.  In  other  words,  clay  lands  ordinarily 
show  quicker  results  from  tillage  than  they  do  from 
the  application  of  fertilizers.  The  farmer  should 
bear  in  mind  that  he  should  never  rely  exclusively 
upon  chemical  plant-foods,  because  they  contain  no 
humus,  and  the  soil  is  apt  to  become  hard  and  life- 
less. They  should  be  used  in  judicious  rotation,  or 
in  connection  with  cover  crops,  or  stable  manures, 


Humus   Improves   the   Land.  221 

or  applications  of  muck  or  some  other  organic  dress- 
ings. It  is  not  necessary  that  the  chemical  fertil- 
izers should  be  mixed  before  application ;  in  fact, 
upon  lands  of  varying  soil  and  conformation,  it  is 
ordinarily  better  to  apply  the  different  ingredients 
separately,  because  different  parts  of  the  plantation 
inay  need  different  amounts  of  the  various  materials. 
The  low  lands  will  ordinarily  need  less  of  the  nitro- 
gen and  perhaps  more  of  the  potash  and  phosphoric 
acid.  In  general,  it  is  advisable  to  buy  the  plant- 
foods  separately,  as  advised  in  the  preceding  pages. 
Farmers  do  not  appreciate  the  importance  of 
humus  as  an  ameliorator  of  land.  In  farm  lands,  it 
is  usually  supplied  in  form  of  green  crops,  stubble 
or  sward,  and  barn  manures.  When  humus  is  ab- 
sent, sandy  soils  become  too  loose  and  leachy  and 
hot,  and  clay  soils  bake  and  become  lumpy.  The 
different  physical  characteristics  of  clay  lumps  and 
mellow  soils  are  largely  due  to  the  greater  amount 
of  humus  in  the  good  soil,  and  yet  we  have  seen 
that  the  chemist  may  pronounce  the  cloddy  soil 
richer  in  native  plant -food.  If  the  farmer  has 
much  of  this  hard,  unproductive  land,  what  is  to 
be  done  with  it  ?  To  cover  it  with  commercial  fer- 
tilizer would  be  of  little  benefit.  It  must  first  be 
put  in  fit  condition  for  the  growing  of  crops.  A 
crop  of  clover  plowed  under  would  quickly  improve 
it,  but  if  the  land  is  planted  to  orchard  he  does 
not  care  to  seed  it  down.  The  next  recourse  is 
stable  manure.  Of  this,  perhaps  enough  can  be 
had  to  cover  the  hardest  spots.  For  the  rest, 


222  The    Principles    of    Fruit-growing. 

catch  or  cover  crops  must  be  used.  Following  the 
early  tillage,  he  can  sow  rye,  and  plow  it  under  very 
early  in  the  spring.  Now  and  then  he  can  use  a 
fall  crop  of  sowed  corn  or  oats,  or  something  of 
the  kind.  After  a  time,  he  may  be  able  to  get 
the  land  in  such  condition  of  tilth  as  to  secure  an 
occasional  stand  of  crimson  clover.  This  practice, 
continued  judiciously  for  a  few  years,  ought  to  radi- 
cally change  the  character  of  the  land  ;  but  all  this 
will  be  of  little  avail  unless  the  plowing  and  cul- 
tivation can  also  be  done  in  a  timely  and  intelli- 
gent way.  All  this  will  take  time  and  patience.  He 
may  wish  that  there  were  some  short-cut  and  lazy 
way  of  improving  this  land  by  making  some  appli- 
cation of  fertilizer  to  it,  but  there  is  not.  The 
most  he  can  do  is  to  slowly  bring  it  into  such 
condition  that  it  will  pay  to  put  concentrated  fertiliz- 
ers on  it.  In  short,  the  first  step  in  the  enrichment 
of  unproductive  land  is  to  improve  its  physical  con- 
dition by  means  of  careful  and  thorough  tillage,  by 
the  addition  of  humus,  and  perhaps  by  underdrainage. 
It  must  first  be  put  in  such  condition  that  plants 
can  grow  in  it.  After  that,  the  addition  of  chemi- 
cal fertilizers  may  pay  by  giving  additional  or  re- 
dundant growth.  All  this  means  that  no  amount 
of  penance  in  the  way  of  applications  to  the  land  can 
ever  atone  for  the  sins  of  poor  tillage ;  or,  farm- 
ing cannot  be  done  by  recipe. 

The  gist  of  the  whole  matter  respecting  the  use 
of  fertilizers  is  that  the  grower  should  experiment 
with  his  plantation,  adding  a  little  more  of  this 


Summary    Conclusions.  223 

and  a  little  more  of  that  as  he  thinks  the  different 
trees  or  the  different  types  of  land  may  need. 
There  is  no  other  way  of  arriving  at  this  local 
knowledge  except  by  trying  for*  oneself.  If  one  is 
observant  of  the  conditions,  he  will  after  a  time  come 
to  have  an  intuitive  sense  of  what  the  land  prob- 
ably needs,  but  he  may  not  be  able  to  tell  just 
why  it  needs  it.  In  most  matters  of  handicraft  in 
agriculture,  the  skilled  man  develops  methods  and 
results  almost  unconsciously.  These  methods  are 
really  founded  upon  close  observation  and  truthful 
inductions,  but  the  person  can  rarely  ever  impart 
this  particular  information  to  his  neighbor.  The 
only  general  statement,  perhaps,  which  can  be  made, 
is  that  liberal  applications  of  potash  arid  phos- 
phoric acid  should  nearly  always  be  made  to  bearing 
fruit  plants,  if  the  grower  desires  the  best  results; 
and  he  may  be  able  to  supply  his  nitrogen  more 
cheaply  by  cover  crops  and  tillage  than  by  buying 
chemicals. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    PLANTING    OF  FRUIT    GROUNDS, 

THE  subjects  which  one  naturally  considers  when 
starting  out  to  begin  the  planting  of  a  fruit  area 
fall  into  four  categories, —  the  choice  of  the  varie- 
ties, the  selection  of  the  trees  or  plants,  the  actual 
setting  of  the  stock,  and  the  laying  out  of  the 
fruit  plantation.  These  matters  may  now  be  con- 
sidered. 

THE     CHOICE     OF     VARIETIES. 

The  most  personal  matter  connected  with  the 
making  of  a  fruit  farm  is  the  siibject  of  choice  of 
varieties.  This  is  the  one  subject  upon  which  most 
questions  are  asked,  and  it  is  also  the  one  upon 
which  the  least  specific  and  dogmatic  advice  can  be 
given.  The  choice  of  varieties  depends  primarily 
upon  the  personal  preferences  of  the  growrer,  upon 
the  purpose  for  which  the  fruit  is  to  be  grown, 
and  upon  the  locality.  Without  knowing  these 
three  elements,  it  is  impossible  for  any  person  to 
give  satisfactory  advice  as  to  varieties.  The  growrer 
who  has  no  personal  preferences  for  varieties  is 
one  who  has  not  yet  mastered  the  first  essential  to 
(224) 


Choosing   the    Varieties.  225 

successful  fruit-growing, — the  obtainment  of  a  spe- 
cific ideal.  In  the  greater  number  of  cases  it  is  easy 
to  answer  questions  as  to  what  varieties  to  plant 
by  asking  the  questioner  what  he  wants  to  plant. 
He  will  commonly  answer  his  own  question  fully. 
The  intelligent  question  about  varieties  is  that  which 
asks  for  specific  information  ;  as,  for  example : 
What  is  the  best  red  fall  apple  for  southern  Ohio  ? 
What  is  the  earliest  raspberry?  What  is  the  hardi- 
est apricot  ?  What  is  the  largest  plum  ?  What  is 
the  best  strawberry  for  canning!  Such  questions 
as  these  indicate  that  the  questioner  has  classified 
his  own  ideas,  and  that  he  is  driving  straight  to 
the  point  for  information ;  and  they  are  usually 
capable  of  rather  definite  answer.  When  a  man 
asks,  "What  variety  of  fruit  shall  I  plant?"  no  one 
should  attempt  to  answer.  The  writer  has  long 
since  come  to  the  practice  of  refusing  to  recom- 
mend specific  varieties  to  individual  persons.  He 
prefers  to  name  those  varieties  which  he  thinks 
might  please  himself  for  the  purpose  or  place 
named,  or  to  give  lists  of  the  kinds  most  likely  to 
meet  the  requirements ;  but  the  grower  must  choose 
for  himself. 

There  are  a  few  general  rules  or  precepts  which 
may  be  stated  to  aid  the  intending  fruit -planter  in 
the  choice  of  varieties:* 

1.  So  far  as  possible,  follow  your  own  personal 
preferences, —  the  type  of  fruits  which  you  love  best 

*  The  whole  question  of  the  running  ont  of  varieties   is   discussed  in  "The 
Survival  of  the  Unlike." 


226  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

or  take   most   interest    in.      These   are   the   ones   with 
which  .you  will  most  likely  succeed. 

2.  Obtain    a   clear   and   specific   ideal   of    the   pur- 
pose  for   which    the    fruit    is    to    be    grown, —  whether 
for   dessert,  for  canning,  for  a   local   market,  for  ex- 
port, for  evaporating,  and  the  like.     Then  choose  the 
varieties  which  are  best  suited  to  meet  these  ideals. 

3.  Do    not   covet    a   variety   simply   because    it    is 
eminently   successful     in    another    region.       Varieties 
have    distinct    adaptations    to    geographical    areas.       If 
a   given  variety  is   a   universal   success  in   the    plains 
regions,  the    probabilities    are  that    it  will   not   thrive 
equally   well   in   New   England.     The   farmers   of    the 
east    have    learned    that    they   cannot    compete    with 
those    of    the   west    in     the    growing   of    wheat,  but 
they  have    not    yet    learned    that  one    region    may  not 
be    able    to  compete  with   another   in  some    particular 
variety  of   fruit,  even   though  the  variety  thrive  well 
in   both.     It   is  a  question   if   the  northeastern  states 
can    compete    with    the    mid -western    states     in    the 
growing   of    the    Ben    Davis   apple.       The    south    and 
mid -south     are     being     planted     extensively    to     the 
Kieffer    pear,  largely  because  it  thrives   better  over  a 
large    area   than   most   other   varieties.       It   is   doubt- 
ful,   then,  if    it    is   wise   to    plant    it    extensively   in 
the    north,  where   other    pears   will    thrive   which    do 
not    succeed    in    the    Kieffer    region.       Diversification 
must    come     to    be    more    and     more    important    in 
fruit-growing;     and    any    region    should    grow    that 
type   of    fruit   most    freely   which    other   regions   can- 
not grow  so  well. 


Choosing   tlie    Varieties.  227 

4.  Choose  with  reference  to  the  local  environment. 
One   must   consider   the   adaptation  of   the   variety   to 
his   particular   climate,  to   the   probable   length  of  his 
season,  to  his  distance  from  market, 

and  to  his  system  of  husbandry. 
The  adaptation  of  varieties  to  soils 
is  an  important  consideration,  and 
one  which  demands  closer  attention 
as  cultivation  becomes  more  intense 
and  perfect.  As  a  rule,  the  finer 
the  variety  in  quality,  the  less  able 
it  is  to  thrive  equally  well  under 
diverse  methods  of  treatment.  It 
is  partly  for  this  reason  that  des- 
sert fruits  are  commonly  regarded 
as  unreliable  and  difficult  to  grow.  Fig.  22.  strawberry 
One  can  scarcely  hope  for  success  in  *°Jtehresr  modil 
the  best  horticulture  unless  he  gives 
particular  study  to  the  adaptations  of  species  and 
varieties  to  soils. 

5.  Choose  with  reference  to  inter -pollination.     It  is 
known   that  some  varieties  of   fruits  are  self -sterile, — 
that  is,  they  are  not  fruitful  when  planted  alone.     This 
sterility    may    be   due,    as  in   the   case   of   the  straw- 
berry, to   imperfect    (or   unisexual)    flowers,    or,   more 
commonly,    to    pollen    which    is    impotent    upon     the 
pistils   of   the    same   flower.*     This   infertility  or  self- 
sterility   is   largely   a   varietal   characteristic,  yet   it  is 
no  doubt   greatly   modified   by   seasonal   and   environ- 

*  For   a  discussion  of  the  philosophy  of   this  self -sterility,  see  the  essay  on 
"Sex  in  Fruits,"  in  "Survival  of  the  Unlike,"  p.  347. 


228  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

mental  conditions.  It  is  probable  that  varieties  may 
sometimes  be  self -fertile  and  at  other  times  self- 
sterile.  The  strawberry  flowers  in  Fig.  22  show  the 
marked  influence  upon  pollen -bearing  which  is  ex- 
erted by  different  conditions.  The  flowers  are  of  the 
same  variety,  and  were  grown  under  glass.  The 
lower  one  shows  the  small  development  of  stamens 
in  a  long  cloudy  spell,  and  the  upper  one  shows 
the  profusion  of  stamens  which  appeared  in  other 
flowers  after  two  or  three  days  of  sunshine.  It  is 
probable  that  pollen  is  more  profuse  and  more  potent 
in  some  years  than  in  others. 

There  is  very  little  positive  knowledge  concerning 
the  inter -pollination  of  fruits,  and  no  subject  con- 
nected with  pomologj-  is  in  greater  need  of  study. 
We  chiefly  know  that  the  most  productive  orchards 
are  usually  those  of  many  varieties,  and  that  some 
varieties  sometimes  refuse  to  fertilize  themselves.  The 
most  positive  knowledge  respecting  the  impotency  of 
pollen  amongst  our  common  fruits  is  in  connection 
writh  the  plums  of  the  Wild  Goose  type.  The  safest 
practice,  therefore,  is  to  plant  no  more  than  two 
or  three  rows  of  any  one  variety  together  of  fruits  in 
which  self -sterility  is  a  frequent  characteristic  (pears, 
plums,  apples).  The  chief  point  to  be  observed  in  se- 
lecting the  varieties  is  that  they  shall  bloom  together. 
All  pears  and  apples,  and  nearly  or  quite  all  plums, 
seem  to  be  inter- fertile  when  they  bloom  simultaneously. 

The  following  lists  of  self -sterile  and  self -fertile 
fruits  are  summaries  of  our  present  knowledge  upon 
the  subject: 


Impotent   Fruits.  229 

Pears — Varieties  more  or  less  self-stertile. — Angou- 
leme,  Anjou,  Bartlett,  Boussock,  Clairgeau,  Clapp, 
Columbia,  De  la  Chene,  Doyenne  Sieulle,  Easter,  Gan- 
sel's  Bergamotte,  Gray  Doyenne,  Ho  well,  Idaho,  Jones, 
Kieffer,  Lawrence,  Louise  Bonne,  Mount  Vernon, 
Pound,  Sheldon,  Souvenir  do  Congres,  Superfin, 
Colonel  Wilder,  Winter  Nelis. 

Varieties  generally  self -fertile.—  Bosc,  Brockworth, 
Buffum,  Diel,  Doyenne  d'Alenc.on,  Flemish  Beauty, 
Heathcote,  Le  Conte,  Manning  Elizabeth,  Seckel, 
Tyson,  White  Doyenne. 

Apples — Varieties  more  or  less  self-stertile. — Bellfleur, 
Chenango  (Strawberry),  Gravenstein,  King,  Northern 
Spy,  Norton  Melon,  Primate,  Rambo,  Red  Astrachan, 
Roxbury  Russet,  Spitzenburg,  Talman  Sweet,  Willow 
Twig,  Winesap. 

Varieties  mostly  self -fertile. —  Baldwin,  Ben  Davis, 
Codlin,  Fallawater,  Greening,  Oldenburg,  Rail's  Janet, 
Red  Astrachan,  Smith  Cider. 

Plums  —  Varieties  more  or  less  self -sterile.  —  Coe 
Golden  Drop,  French  Prune,  Italian  Prune,  Marianna, 
Miner,  Ogon,  Peach,  Satsuma,  Wild  Goose  and  many 
other  native  plums. 

Varieties  mostly  self -fertile.  —  Burbank,  Bradshaw, 
De  Soto,  Green  Gage,  Lombard,  Robinson,  Damsons. 

Strawberries  often  lack  stamens  altogether,  whilst 
others,  like  Crescent,  have  so  few  and  so  poor 
stamens  that  they  are  practically  self -sterile.  Ordi- 
narily, there  should  be  a  row  of  a  perfect -flowered 
variety  for  every  two  rows  of  a  pistillate  or  infer- 
tile variety. 


230  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

"The  quince  seems  to  fruit  nearly  as  well  with  its  own  pollen 
as  with  that  of  another  variety."—  Waite. 

Grapes  (Beach)* — Unfruitful  when  planted  by  them- 
selves.— Black  Eagle,  Brighton,  Euraelan,  Massasoit, 
Wilder,  Rogers'  No.  5,  Gaertner,  Merrimac,  Requa, 
Aminia,  Essex,  Barry,  Herbert,  Salem. 

Able  to  set  fruit  of  themselves. —  Concord,  Dia- 
mond, Niagara,  Winchell  or  Green  Mountain,  Rogers 
Nos.  13,  24,  and  32,  Agawam,  Delaware. 

Some  of  the  self -sterile  varieties  mentioned  have 
fruited  well  when  planted  with  pollenizers  as  follows: 
Bartlett  with  Nelis,  Flemish,  Easter;  Kieffer  with  Le 
Conte,  Garber ;  Coe  Golden  Drop  with  French  Prune, 
Fellenburg  ;  Satsuma  with  Abundance,  Burbank,  Red 
June;  Miner  with  De  Soto,  Forest  Rose,  Wild  Goose; 
Wild  Goose  with  De  Soto,  Newman,  Miner. 

6.  Determine  which  are  the  best  varieties  for  your 
purpose  by  experimenting,  and  by  diligent  inquiry 
of  neighbors,  pomologists,  nurserymen,  books,  experi- 
ment stations,!  and  of  marketmen. 


THE    SELECTION    OF    THE    PLANTS.! 

It  is  first  of  all  necessary,  in  selecting  the  plants 
for  fruit  grounds,  to  determine  what  first -class  stock 
is.  "The  nurserymen  contends  that  he  grows  the 

*For  recent  notes,  see  Beach,  Bull.  169,  N.  Y.  Exp.  Sta. 

tNotes  upon  the  uses  of  variety  tests  by  experiment  stations  will  be  found 
in  "Survival  of  the  Unlike,"  pp.  171  and  370, 

tThe  Methods  of  propagating  are  fully  set  forth  in  "The  Nursery-Book." 


First-class   Stock.  231 

varieties  which  the  planters  want  —  those  for  which 
there  is  a  demand.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  largely 
forces  the  demand  by  magnifying  the  value  of  those 
varieties  which  are  good  growers  in  the  nursery. 
The  nurseryman's  business  ends  with  the  growing 
of  the  young  tree,  and  the  tree  which  makes  the 
straightest,  most  rapid  and  cleanest  growth  is  the  one 
which  finds  the  readiest  sale.  Now,  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  the  variety  which  is  the  cheapest  and 
best  for  the  nurseryman  to  grow  is  the  best  for  the 
fruit-grower.  Probably  every  apple -grower  is  now 
ready  to  admit  that  the  Baldwin  has  been  too  much 
planted,  whilst  Canada  Red  and  various  other  varie- 
ties which  are  poor  growers  in  the  nursery  row  have 
been  too  little  planted. 

"The  blame  for  this  condition  of  things  does  not 
rest  wholly  with  the  nurseryman,  although  it  is 
partly  his  fault.  The  original  difficulty  lies  in  the 
fact,  it  seems  to  me,  that  our  conception,  and  con- 
sequently our  definition,  of  what  constitutes  a  first- 
class  tree  is  at  variance  with  the  truth.  We  con- 
ceive a  first -class  nursery  tree  to  be  one  which  grows 
straight  and  smooth,  tall  and  stocky,  whilst  we  know 
that  very  many  —  perhaps  half — the  varieties  of  apples 
and  pears  and  plums  will  not  grow  that  way.  In 
order  to  make  our  conception  true,  we  grow  those 
varieties  which  will  satisfy  the  definition,  and,  as  a 
result,  there  is  a  constant  tendency  to  eliminate 
from  our  lists  some  of  the  best  and  most  profitable 
varieties. 

"All    this    could  be  remedied  if  people  were  to  be 


232  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

taught  that  varieties  of  fruit  trees  may  be  just  as 
different  and  distinct  in  habit  of  growth  as  they  are 
in  kind  of  fruit,  and  that  a  first-class  tree  is  a  well- 
grown  specimen  tchich  has  the  characteristics  of  the 
variety.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  time  for  nursery- 
men to  begin  to  enforce  this  conception  upon  the 
public.  Why  may  not  a  catalogue  explain  that  a 
tree  may  be  first-class  and  yet  be  crooked  and 
gnarly  ?  Why  not  place  the  emphasis  upon  health 
and  vigor,  and  not  upon  mere  shape  and  comeli- 
ness ?  And  why  may  not  a  nurseryman  give  a  list 
of  those  varieties  which  are  comely  growers,  and 
another  list  of  those  which  are  wayward  growers?"* 

It  is  generally  best  to  buy  first-class  trees, — 
those  which  are  of  medium  size  for  their  age, 
shapely  in  body  and  head,  stocky,  with  straight, 
clean  trunks  and  abundant  roots,  which  are  not 
stunted,  and  are  free  of  borers  and  other  injuries, 
and,  in  the  case  of  budded  trees,  those  in  which 
the  union  is  very  near  the  ground ;  and  the  tree 
should  show  the  natural  characteristics  of  the  va- 
riety. In  dwarf  pears,  especially,  it  is  important  that 
the  stock,  to  b'e  first-class,  shall  be  budded  very 
low.  It  is  often  thought  that  large  size  is  of  itself 
a  great  merit  in  a  nursery  tree,  but  this  is  an 
error.  Vigor,  cleanness,  stockiuess,  firm,  hard 
growth,  are  much  more  important  than  bigness. 
The  toughest  and  best  trees  are  usually  those  of 
medium  size.  The  very  small  extra  expense  which 

*"The  Survival  of  the  Unlike,"  p.  246. 


Age   of  Plants  for   Setting.  233 

one  incurs  in  buying  the  best  trees  is  a  good  in- 
vestment. In  an  acre  of  apple  trees,  the  difference 
in  cost  of  first -class  over  second -class  trees  will 
not  be  more  than  a  dollar  or  two,  but  the  differ- 
ence in  results  is  often  great. 

The  age  at  which  plants  should  be  bought  must 
be  governed  by  circumstances  and  by  variety.  There 
is  a  general  tendency  to  buy  trees  too  old  rather 
than  too  young.  When  varieties  are  new  and 
scarce,  it  may  be  economy  to  buy  young  stock. 
Some  of  the  freer- growing  apples  and  pears  are 
large  enough  when  two  years  old,  if  grown  from 
buds ;  but  these  fruits  are  usually  set  at  three 
years  from  the  bud  or  graft.  Dwarf  pears  may  be 
set  at  two  or  three  years,  preferably  at  the  former 
age.  Quinces  are  set  at  two  and  three  years. 
Peaches  are  set  at  one  year  from  the  bud.  Strawber- 
ries are  set  only  from  new  plants  (that  is,  those  which 
have  not  borne) ;  gooseberries  and  currants  prefera- 
bly from  two-year  stock,  and  raspberries  and  black- 
berries from  stock  not  more  than  one  season  old. 

Dwarfs  vs.  standards. — Fruit-growers  are  always 
asking  whether  standard  or  dwarf  trees  are  the 
better  to  plant,  but  the  question  is  a  personal 
one,  and  cannot  be  answered  for  another  any  more 
than  the  question  can  as  to  whether  peaches  are 
more  desirable  than  plums.  Dwarf  apples  and 
dwarf  pears  are  of  a  different  type  of  fruit-grow- 
ing from  the  standards,  and  the  intending  grower 
must  weigh  the  evidence  for  and  against  as  best 
he  can.  As  a  general  thing,  the  standards  are  the 


234  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

safer  and  more  reliable ;  but  persons  who  are  will- 
ing and  competent  to  give  the  extra  care  which 
the  dwarfs  need,  and  who  have  access  to  extra 
good  markets,  may  generally  grow  the  dwarfs  with 
profit.* 

The  parentage  of  the  cion  may  affect  its  value. — 
"It  is  probable  that  many  trees  fail  to  bear  because 
propagated  from  unproductive  trees.  We  know  that 
no  two  trees  in  any  orchard  are  alike,  either  in  the 
amount  of  fruit  which  they  bear  or  in  their  vigor 
and  habit  of  growth.  Some  are  uniformly  productive, 
and  some  are  uniformly  unproductive.  We  know, 
too,  that  cions  or  buds  tend  to  reproduce  the  char- 
acters of  the  tree  from  which  they  are  taken.  A 
gardener  would  never  think  of  taking  cuttings  from 
a  rose  bush,  or  chrysanthemum,  or  a  carnation, 
which  does  not  bear  flowers.  Why  should  a  fruit- 
grower take  cions  from  a  tree  which  he  knows  to 
be  unprofitable  ? 

"The  indiscriminate  cutting  of  cious  is  too 
clumsy  and  inexact  a  practice  for  these  days,  when 
we  are  trying  to  introduce  scientific  methods  into 
our  farming.  I  am  convinced  that  some  trees  can- 
not be  made  to  bear  by  any  amount  of  treatment. 
They  are  not  the  bearing  kind.  It  is  not  every 
mare  which  will  breed  or  every  hen  which  will  lay 
a  hatfull  of  eggs.  In  my  own  practice,  I  am  buy- 
ing the  best  nursery -grown  stock  of  apples  (mostly 

*  Further  remarks  upon    dwarf   trees   may  be  found  in  Nursery-Book,    3d 
ed.,  and  in  Lodeman's  "Dwarf  Apples,"  Bull.  116,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


Raising    Trees  from   Seeds.  235 

Spy),  and  am  top -grafting  them  with  cions  from 
trees  which  please  me  and  which  I  know  to  have 
been  productive  during  many  years.  Time  will  dis- 
cover if  the  effort  is  worth  the  while,  but  unless 
all  analogies  fail,  the  outcome  must  be  to  my 
profit."* 

If  one  is  to  plant  hardy  stocks  and  then  work 
them  over,  he  should  usually  plan  to  graft  or  bud 
them  after  they  have  stood  in  the  orchard  one 
year.  Good  results  sometimes  follow  grafting  in  the 
very  year  in  which  ^  the  stock  is  set,  but  this  is  the 
exception.  Some  persons  have  proposed  to  sow 
seeds  in  the  very  spot  where  the  trees  are  to 
stand,  and  thereby  to  raise  stocks  for  top-working 
without  transplanting  them,  but  the  labor  and  un- 
certainty of  the  method  make  it  impracticable.  It 
is  cheaper  to  grow  trees  in  the  nursery  row — the 
same  as  it  is  cheaper  to  buy  trees  of  a  nursery- 
man than  to  attempt  to  grow  them— and  the  trees 
also  receive  better  care.  Again,  seedlings  vary,  and 
the  poor  and  weak  ones  should  be  discarded  the 
same  as  they  are  by  the  budder  in  the  nursery 
row  who  finds  them  to  be  too  small  or  too 
scrawny  to  bud.  Well -grown  stock  of  a  strong- 
growing  variety  usually  gives  more  uniform  results 
than  a  lot  of  home-grown  seedlings  can. 

Buying  the  trees.— It  is  best,  when  it  can  be  done, 
to  order  trees  late  in  summer  or  early  in  the  fall,  if 


*L.  H.  Bailey,   Bull.    102,    Cornell  Exp.   Sta.      See,   also,  "Survival  of   the 
Unlike,"  pp.  249,  250. 


236  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

one  expects  to  plant  an  orchard.  Buy  where  the  best 
trees  can  be  obtained,  and  where  there  is  good  reason 
to  expect  reliable  stock  and  honest  dealing.  It  is 
generally  advisable  to  buy  at  the  nearest  nursery  at 
which  the  desired  stock  can  be  secured,  for  the  buyer 
has  more  personal  knowledge  of  the  nurseryman,  he 
can  visit  the  nursery,  he  saves  freight,  and  he  may 
be  able  to  secure  his  stock  in  fresher  condition  ;  but 
trees  of  equal  excellence  will  generally  thrive  equally 
well  when  transported  from  long  distances,  if  they 
arrive  at  their  destination  in  good  condition.  While 
one  should  endeavor  to  secure  low  prices,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  nursery  stock  should  never  be  pur- 
chased simply  because  it  is  cheap.  Poor  stock  is 
dear  as  a  gift.  Yet  farmers  who  annually  plant  a 
few  trees,  and  who  buy  of  agents,  often  pay  exorbi- 
tant prices.  In  a  certain  town,  when  farmers  were 
paying  28  cents  apiece  for  peach  trees  in  lots  of  a 
dozen,  any  reliable  nursery  would  have  been  glad  to 
have  supplied  the  same  varieties  at  $8  per  hundred, 
at  the  nursery.  Plums  which  should  have  sold  for  15 
cents  to  20  cents  apiece  were  selling  to  farmers  for 
50  and  60  cents  apiece.  The  man  who  seriously  ex- 
pects to  plant  an  orchard  for  profit  will  not  be  led 
into  any  wild  scheme  or  new  varieties  by  agents.  He 
will  generally  buy  directly  of  the  nearest  nurseryman 
who  can  supply  the  desired  stock  and  varieties  at  the 
prices  which  suit  him.  Some  nurserymen  employ  reg- 
ular and  reliable  agents,  and  such  agents  carry  a  cer- 
tificate from  the  firm  they  represent.  But  while  these 
salesmen  may  be  perfectly  straightforward,  and  may 


Substitution   of   Varieties.  237 

be  the  best  channels  through  whom  small  orders  can 
be  secured  by  those  who  are  uninformed  in  pomo- 
logical  matters,  all  persons  who  expect  to  go  into 
fruit-growing  seriously  should  buy  directly  of  the 
nurseries.  But  it  must  always  be  remembered  that 
the  tree  agent  has  been  the  means  of  clothing  the 
country  with  fruit  trees,  and  of  thereby  adding  much 
to  the  contentment  of  farm  life. 

The  buyer  should  make  up  his  mind  just  what 
varieties  he  wants,  and  then  find  the  nursery  which 
has  them,  and  orde.r  early  enough  to  get  them. 
There  is  then  no  occasion  to  consider  the  vexed  ques- 
tion of  substitution  of  varieties.  If  the  varieties  are 
not  in  market,  buy  stocks  of  some  strong- growing, 
staple  variety,  and  after  these  are  established — usually 
the  spring  or  summer  of  the  next  year  —  bud  or  graft 
over  the  tops  to  the  desired  varieties. 

THE  SETTING  OF  THE  PLANTS. 

When  to  plant.  —  There  is  much  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  fall  and  spring 
planting.  The  writer's  opinion  is  that  fall  planting 
is  generally  preferable  to  spring  planting  upon  thor- 
oughly drained  soils,  particularly  for  the  hardy  tree 
fruits,  like  apples,  pears  and  plums ;  and  if  the 
ground  is  in  good  condition  and  the  stock  wrell  ma- 
tured, peaches  can  sometimes  be  set  in  October,  even 
in  the  northern  states,  with  success.  The  advantages 
of  fall  planting  are  several.  The  trees  become  estab- 
lished during  the  open  weather  of  fall,  and  they  usu- 


238  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

ally  make  a  start  in  spring  before  the  ground  is  hard 
enough  to  allow  of  spring  planting.  This  early  start 
not  only  means  a  better  growth  the  first  season,  but, 
what  is  more  important,  trees  which  get  a  very  early 
hold  upon  the  soil  endure  the  droughts  of  midsummer 
much  better  than  trees  planted  in  spring.  Planting 
is  nearly  always  better  done  in  the  settled  weather 
and  workable  soil  of  fall  than  in  the  capricious  days 
and  in  the  hurry  of  springtime ;  and  the  orchardist 
is  free  to  begin  cultivation  at  a  time  when  he 
would  otherwise  be  planting  his  trees.  Again,  it  is 
generally  better  to  buy  trees  in  the  fall,  when  the 
stock  of  varieties  is  full  and  when  the  best  trees 
are  yet  unsold :  these  trees  must  be  kept  until 
planting  time,  and  it  is  about  as  cheap  and  fully 
as  safe  to  plant  them  directly  in  the  field  as  to  heel 
them  in  until  spring. 

In  fall  planting,  however,  it  is  important  to  insist 
that  the  trees  shall  be  thoroughly  well  matured.  In 
order  to  move  stock  quickly,  it  is  the-  practice  of 
some  nurserymen  to  "strip"  the  trees  before  the 
growth  is  completed;  that  is,  the  leaves  are  stripped 
off,  the  growth  stopped,  and  the  trees  are  put  upon 
the  market  for  September  deliveries.  This  process 
weakens  the  trees,  and  many  failures  in  young  plan- 
tations are  probably  attributable  to  this  cause.  Such 
trees  may  die  outright,  especially  if  set  in  the  fall 
and  a  hard  winter  follows ;  or  they  may  live  to 
make  a  dwindling  growth  for  the  first  few  years. 
Like  early-weaned  calves,  they  lack  vitality  and  push. 
If  one  were  setting  an  orchard  in  the  fall,  he  should 


Buy    in    the   Fall.  239 

place  his  order  for  trees  in  August  or  September, 
if  possible,  with  the  express  stipulation  that  the 
trees  should  stand  in  the  nursery  rows  until  the 
leaves  begin  to  die  and  fall.  In  the  meantime,  the 
land  should  be  fitted  and  the  holes  dug,  so  that 
when  the  trees  arrive  they  can  go  directly  into  their 
places  without  delay  or  without  the  expense  of  heel- 
ing them  in.  Trees  are  mature  enough  to  dig  late 
in  September  or  early  in  October  in  the  northern 
states,  depending  upon  the  season,  soil  and  variety. 
When  the  tree  is  fully  mature,  some  of  the  leaves 
will  still  hold  upon  the  vigorous  shoots,  and  these 
are  stripped  off ;  but  this  stripping  does  no  harm, 
for  the  young  growth  is  then  mature  and  it  has  a 
thick,  strong,  brown  appearance  which  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  slender,  soft  and  green  branches  of 
early -stripped  trees. 

It  should  be  said  that  there  seems  to  be  a  ten- 
dency amongst  nurserymen  to  urge  fall  planting  in 
order  to  push  sales ;  and  there  are  many  good 
planters  who  consider  fall  planting  hazardous,  espe- 
cially in  the  north.  It  is  true  that  unless  the  con- 
ditions are  right,  spring  planting  is  the  safer  course; 
and  farmers  who  have  many  fall  crops  to  harvest 
will  also  probably  find  more  time  for  tree  setting 
in  the  spring. 

Distance  apart. — Fruit  plants  are  oftener  set  too 
close  together  than  too  far  apart ;  in  fact,  the  latter 
error  scarcely  exists.  Trees,  especially,  are  wide 
feeders ;  and  the  best  results  are  obtained  when 
each  tree  stands  far  enough  from  its  neighbors  to 


240  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

allow  it  to  possess  an  individuality  all  its  own. 
An  additional  reason  for  sparse  planting  has  lately 
become  important,— the  necessity  of  spraying  for  in- 
sect and  fungous  pests;  and  for  this  reason,  as  well 
as  to  allow  of  better  cultivation,  the  outside  rows 
should  not  be  set  close  to  fences.  The  distance  at 
which  trees  may  be  set  depends  much  upon  the 
system  of  pruning.  If  heading -in  is  followed  vigor- 
ously and  systematically,  trees  may  be  set  a  third 
nearer  than  if  allowed  to  take  their  natural  form. 
Heading- in  should  always  be  practiced  with  dwarf 
pears,  and  many  of  our  best  growers  pursue  it  with 
peaches,  plums  and  quinces.  Thin  planting  is  the 
safer  rule  for  the  majority  of  cases.  The  following 
table  may  be  supposed  to  represent  the  outside  aver- 
age limit  for  the  planting  of  fruits  in  New  York,  when 
the  plants  are  allowed  to  take  their  natural  form : 

Apples,  40  ft.  each  way. 

-  dwarf,  10  to   15  ft. 
Pears,  standard,  20  to  25  ft. 

-  dwarf,  12  ft.   to  1  rod. 
Quinces,  1  rod. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines,  20  ft. 

Plums,  20  ft. 

Apricots,  20  ft. 

Cherries,   sour,  20  ft. 

—  sweet,  30  ft. 

Figs,  20  to  25  ft. 

Kaki,  20  to  25  ft. 

Pecans,  40  ft. 


Distance   of  Planting.  241 


Oranges  and  Lemons, 

25  to  30  ft. 

Grapes, 

6x8  to  8x10  ft. 

Currants, 

4x6  to  6x8  ft. 

Blackberries, 

4x7  to  6x9  ft. 

Raspberries, 

3x6  to  5x8  ft. 

Strawberries, 

1x3  or  4  ft.          [way. 

Cranberries, 

1   or   2   ft.    apart    each 

These  are  safe  distances.  In  certain  cases,  how- 
ever, where  the  soil  is  strong  and  the  grower  makes 
thorough  work  of  cultivating,  pruning  and  fertilizing, 
these  distances  can  be  reduced  somewhat  with  profit, 
except,  perhaps,  in  the  case  of  apples.  (See,  also, 
remarks  by  Van  Deman,  page  273.) 

The  quincunx  system  plants  in  triangles  rather  than 
in  squares.  The  triangles  may  be  equilateral,  in  which 
case  all  distances  are  equal.  Usually,  however,  a  fifth 
tree  is  set  in  the  center  of  a  square;  this  sysrem 
therefore  requires  twice  the  number  of  trees  needed 
for  ordinary  planting,  not  counting  the  uneven  ends- 

The  mixing  of  species,  or  double  planting. — These 
remarks  upon  the  proper  distances  for  trees  call 
for  some  discussion  of  the  common  question  as  to 
whether  it  is  good  policy  to  plant  shorter -lived  trees, 
as  peaches,  between  apples  and  pears.  It  all  depends 
upon  the  man.  In  general,  it  should  be  discouraged; 
but  if  the  orchardist  gives  the  very  best  attention  to 
fertilizing  and  cultivating,  plantations  can  be  mixed 
with  good  results.  This  mixing  of  species  is  a  per- 
sonal question.  Now  and  then  a  man  succeeds  ad- 
mirably with  it,  but  the  greater  number  fail  to 

Q 


242  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

secure  very  good   results  with  more  than  one  type  of 
effort  upon  the  same  piece  of  land. 

Van  Dem  an*  writes  the  following  upon  this  sub- 
ject: "For  a  number  of  years,  the  trees  will  neces- 
sarily have  much  more  space  than  they  really  need, 
if  planted  the  distance  apart  that  they  will  require 
when  grown  to  full  bearing  age.  Not  only  will  there 
be  wide  spaces  between  their  tops,  but  much  of  the 
soil  will  be  unoccupied  by  their  roots.  Therefore, 
some  plan  for  using  this  space  without  in  any  way 
hindering  the  proper  growth  of  the  trees,  is  permis- 
sible, economical  and  desirable.  Many  plant  peach 
trees  among  their  apple  trees  to  fill  the  spaces  until 
the  apple  trees  get  old  enough  to  need  all  the  room. 
I  have  done  so  myself,  but  do  not  like  it  now.  The 
peach  trees  are  of  quicker  growth,  and  rob  the  apple 
trees  to  a  damaging  degree,  in  many  cases.  Dwarf 
pears  are  occasionally  set  in  apple  or  standard  pear 
orchards,  but  this  is  generally  a  mistake,  because  the 
trees  often  need  very  different  culture,  especially 
when  the  pear  trees  blight  badly  from  too  rapid 
growth.  Moreover,  if  the  dwarf  pear  trees  are 
planted  deep,  they  send  out  pear  roots  above  the 
quince  stocks,  and  become  almost  as  long-lived  as 
the  other  trees.  The  wiser  plan  is,  usually,  to  plant 
apples,  peaches,  pears,  cherries,  plums,  apricots,  etc., 
by  themselves,  but  to  fill  up  the  spaces  until  the 
permanent  trees  need  the  whole,  plant  varieties  of 


*H.   E.  Van   Deman,    "Plans   for   Orchard    Planting,"   Rural   New-Yorker, 
March  G,  1897. 


Double   Planting.  243 

the   same   species    that  will  come  into   bearing   early. 

"Not  only  do  different  kinds  of  orchards  fruits  re- 
quire different  distances  between  their  trees,  but  the 
same  species  or  the  same  variety  often  needs  more  or 
less  space  in  different  climates  and  soils.  Despite  all 
the  manuring  or  cultivation  we  may  give  them, 
those  planted  in  some  localities  will  not  attain  the 
same  size  as  they  would  had  they  been  planted  in 
others.  For  instance:  the  peach  trees  of  Connecticut 
and  northern  Michigan  are  much  smaller  than  those 
of  Delaware  and  Missouri.  No  manner  of  treat- 
ment will  cause  them  to  grow  to  the  same  size, 
unless  those  in  the  more  southern  locality  were  cut 
back  in  summer  time  or  starved,  and  thereby  stunted. 
It  is  climate  that  does  it — more  warmth,  more  sun- 
light, and,  in  short,  more  congeniality.  The  apple 
trees  of  Michigan  and  New  England  are  far  larger 
than  those  of  Texas  and  the  tide -water  sections  of 
Virginia,  because  the  apple  delights  in  a  climate 
both  moist  and  cool.  The  gigantic  cherry  trees  of 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  far  exceed  in  size  those 
which  grow  in  the  richer  lands  of  Illinois. 

"Where  land  is  dear,  economy  of  space  is  an 
important  point ;  hence  the  plan  that  will  put  the 
most  trees  on  a  given  area,  provided  they  are  not 
too  thick,  is  the  best.  The  more  there  are  on  an 
acre,  the  less  it  costs  per  tree  to  cultivate  them." 

Some  of  the  small -fruits  may  be  planted  in  or- 
chards with  the  very  best  results.  Strawberries  are 
practically  an  annual  plant,  and  are  much  better  for 
orchards  than  any  kind  of  a  sowed  crop  is. 


244  The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 

How  to  plant  the  stock.— Plow  the  land  and  fit  it 
well.  As  all  fruit  grounds  should  be  put  into  culti- 
vated crops  for  the  first  two  years,  at  least,  it  will 
generally  be  found  advisable  to  plow  the  entire  area 
before  the  place  is  set,  rather  than  to  plow  strips 
where  the  trees  or  plants  are  to  go,  for  the  land 
can  then  be  shaped  better  with  reference  to  surface 
drainage  and  general  convenience. 

Trees  should  be  set  neither  in  dead -furrows  nor 
on  back -furrows.  Level  culture  should  generally  be 
adopted  from  the  start,  unless  it  is  known  to  be 
necessary  to  displace  surface  water ;  and  in  that  case 
it  may  be  questioned  if  the  laud  is  fit  for  fruit 
plants.  In  all  ordinary  soils,  holes  must  be  dug 
by  hand  for  the  tree  fruits.  Plowing  out  a  deep 
furrow  in  the  line  of  the  rows  may  lessen  the  dig- 
ging and  aid  in  getting  the  trees  in  line.  The  hole 
should  be  dug  broad  and  ample ;  and  the  harder 
the  soil  the  larger  ought  the  hole  to  be,  for  in 
that  case  the  loose  dirt  which  is  filled  in  must  give 
the  tree  its  start.  In  loose  and  deep  soils,  the 
hole  need  be  no  larger  than  the  spread  of  the 
roots.  Chop  up  the  soil  in  the  bottom  of  the  hole, 
or  throw  in  a  few  shovelfuls  of  loose  surface  earth. 

Trees  should  be  set  an  inch  or  two  deeper  than 
they  stood  in  the  nursery,  for  the  loose  earth  will 
settle  and  wash  away  in  the  course  of  the  season, 
even  if  it  is  well  packed  when  the  trees  are  set. 
Dwarf  pears  should  be  set  from  three  to  six  inches 
below  the  bud.  The  roots  are  trimmed,  as  ex- 
plained further  on.  Every  care  must  be  exercised 


Setting   the   Plants.  245 

to  get  the  soil  thoroughly  firmed  in  about  the 
roots — which  are  straightened  out  in  approximately 
their  natural  position — and  especially  under  the  crown 
or  fork  of  the  roots,  in  order  that  no  air-spaces 
may  be  left  to  dry  out.  This  dirt  can  be  best  placed 
by  fingering  it  in,  moving  the  tree  gently  up  and 
down  at  the  same  time.  Once  or  twice  in  the  pro- 
gress of  filling  the  hole,  the  earth  should  be  stamped 
down.  Fill  the  hole  to  a  little  more  than  level 
full  to  carry  off  surface  water,  but  be  careful  that 
no  hollows  are  left  too  close  about  the  tree  into 
which  water  can  settle,  especially  when  planting  in 
the  fall.  Stamp  or  pound  the  earth  very  firmly 
about  the  tree  before  leaving  it,  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  retaining  moisture  and  of  holding  the  tree 
against  winds.  Small  stuff,  like  nursery  stock  and 
small -fruit  plants,  may  often  be  well  planted  by 
means  of  a  dibber  or  spud.  All  this  operation  of 
planting  can  proceed  to  perfection  only  when  the 
earth  is  dry  enough  to  crumble.  Stock  cannot  be 
well  planted  in  wet  and  sticky  soil. 

If  trees  are  set  according  to  these  directions, 
and  the  tops  are  cut  back  as  explained  farther  on, 
there  will  rarely  be  any  necessity  for  staking  and 
tying  the  trees  to  keep  them  plumb. 

Mulches  of  straw  or  manure  are  sometimes  ad- 
vised for  newly  set  trees.  For  trees  planted  late  in 
spring  and  upon  droughty  soils,  a  light  mulch  about 
the  tree  may  be  advised ;  but  in  other  cases  it  is 
not.  If  mulches  are  applied  to  fall -planted  trees, 
care  must  be  taken  to  tramp  them  down  well,  or 


246  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

they  may  become  a  nesting-place  for  mice,  which 
may  girdle  the  trees  when  there  are  heavy  snows. 
There  are  those  who  favor  placing  a  forkful  of  ma- 
nure in  the  bottom  of  the  hole,  but  this  is  a 
practice  of  doubtful  value ;  and,  at  all  events,  the 
manure  should  be  well  mixed  with  the  soil  to  pre- 
vent drying  out.  There  is  often  discussion  as  to 
whether  it  is  desirable  to  place  the  mulch  011  the 
surface  or  to  place  it  an  inch  or  two  below  the 
surface  and  cover  it  with  soil.  No  dogmatic  as- 
sertion can  be  made  for  either  method,  although, 
of  the  two,  the  former  is  probably  more  generally 
advisable.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  a 
mulch  of  tilled  earth  (as  explained  in  Chapter  III.) 
is  more  desirable  than  one  of  straw  or  manure  in 
general  fruit -planting. 

Puddling  the  roots  is  a  good  practice  when  trees 
are  to  be  shipped  any  distance  or  when  they  are 
likely  to  be  unduly  exposed,  and  it  is  a  common 
practice  amongst  nurserymen.  The  operation  con- 
sists in  sousing  the  roots  in  a  thin  mud  or  paste 
of  clay. 

Trimming  the  trees* — There  is  much  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  best  method  of  trimming  trees 
when  they  are  set.  So  far  as  the  root  is  concerned, 
it  is  advisable,  in  the  north,  to  cut  away  only  those 
roots  which  are  broken  or  badly  torn.  These  should 
be  cut  off  just  back  of  the  injury.  It  is  the  custom 


'Complete  discussions  of  pruning  and  training,  with  a  full  analysis  of  the 
Stringfellow  or  stub- root  method,  may  be  found  in  "The  Pruning-Book." 


Trimming   the    Young    Tree.  247 

to  cut  off  the  ends  of  all  roots  of  the  size  of  a  lead 
pencil  or  larger,  for  a  clean,  smooth  wound  is  sup- 
posed to  heal  quicker  than  a  ragged  one.  These  cuts 
are  made  from  within  outwards,  so  that  the  wound  is 
more  or  less  slanting  across  the  roots,  and  so  that  it 
rests  firmly  upon  the  ground  when  the  tree  is  set. 
When  the  tree  is  planted,  all  the  roots  should  be 
straightened  out  to  nearly  or  quite  their  normal  posi- 
tion. If  it  is  found  that  one  or  two  roots  run  off  to 
an  inordinate  length,  they  may  be  cut  back  to  corre- 
spond somewhat  with  the  main  root  system. 

Perhaps  half  the  entire  root  system  of  the  young 
tree  is  left  in  the  ground  when  it  is  dug.  It  is  there- 
fore evident  that  the  top  should  be  cut  back  to  a  cor- 
responding amount.  In  fact,  the  top  should  be  more 
severely  shortened -in  than  the  root,  because  the  root, 
in  addition  to  being  reduced,  is  also  dislodged  from 
the  soil,  with  which  it  must  establish  a  new  union 
before  it  can  resume  the  normal  activities.  Trees 
which  are  allowed  to  carry  too  much  top  when 
planted  may  fail  to  grow  outright ;  or  if  they  start, 
they  are  very  likely  to  be  overtaken  by  the  droughts 
of  summer.  Even  if  they  live,  the  growth  is  gen- 
erally small  and  uncertain,  and  the  tree  may  fall  a 
prey  to  borers  or  a  victim  to  high  winds.  On  the 
other  hand,  trees  may  be  trimmed  too  severely  when 
set.  Except  possibly  in  the  case  of  peaches,  it  is 
probably  unwise  to  trim  the  trees  to  a  mere  pole ; 
and  with  peaches,  it  may  be  better  to  leave  spurs 
with  at  least  one  bud  than  to  trim  to  a  whip.  There 
should  be  a  number  of  strong,  bright  buds  left  upon 


248 


The   Principles  of  Fruit -growing. 


the  top,  for  these  are  the  points  where  early  and 
active  growth  begins.  These  buds  are  upon  strong 
branches.  If  they  are  removed,  the  weaker  or  half 


Fig.  23.    Yearling  peach  tree. 


Fig.  24.    Peach  tree,  pruned. 


dormant  buds  upon  the  main  trunk  or  low  down  in 
the  crotches,  must  take  up  the  work,  and  these  start 
slowly  and  often  feebly. 


Trimming   the    Young   Plant.  249 

There  are  two  general  methods  of  trimming  the 
tops  of  young  trees  at  planting  time.  One  method 
cuts  back  all  the  branches  to  spurs  of  from  one  to 
three  buds ;  or  sometimes,  particularly  with  dwarf 
pears  set  when  two  years  old,  the  side  branches  may 
be  cut  entirely  away,  leaving  only  the  buds  on  the 
main  stem  or  trunk.  The  tree,  therefore,  "  feathers 
out"  the  first  season;  that  is,  it  makes  many  small 
shoots  along  the  main  trunk.  The  following  fall  or 
spring,  the  top  is  started  at  the  desired  height. 
Fig.  23  shows  a  peach  tree  as  received  from  the 
nursery,  and  Fig.  24  the  same  tree,  trimmed  in  this 
manner,  ready  for  planting.  This  method  is  the  one 
generally  best  adapted  to  the  peach,  which  is  always 
set  when  a  year  old ;  but  for  other  fruits,  unless 
the  trees  are  slender  and  without  good,  branchy  tops, 
it  is  doubtful  if  it  is  the  best  practice.  If  the 
bodies  are  thought  not  to  be  stiff  enough,  this  man- 
ner of  trimming  may  be  used  to  good  advantage. 
The  main  shoot  should  usually  be  headed  back  in 
this  as  in  all  styles  of  trimming,  in  order  to  make 
the  trunk  stocky. 

The  second  method  aims  to  start  the  top  at  the 
required  height  when  the  tree  is  planted.  It  is 
adapted  only  to  strong  and  well  grown  stocks  which 
have  a  more  or  less  branching  and  forking  top. 
From  three  to  five  of  the  best  branches  are  left, 
and  these  are  headed  back  to  a  few  buds  each 
Fig.  25  shows  a  pear  tree,  trimmed  in  Fig.  26,  and 
the  illustration  may  be  considered  to  represent  a 
good  example  of  its  class.  Many  of  our  best  plant- 


250 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing, 


ers    prefer   the   spur   system   for   all    trees,   and   there 
are   some   who   would   trim   all   newly   set   trees   to   a 


Fig.  25.    Three  year  old  pear  tree. 


Fig.  26.    Pear  tree  pruned. 


straight  whip.     There  is  much  to  be  said  for  this  lat- 
ter method. 


Fig.  27.    Young 

plum  stock 
•well  trimmed. 


Fig.  28.    Second-class 

apple  tree,  showing 

leader  at  A. 


Fig.  29.    Second-class 
tree,   showing 
leader  at  A. 


252 


The    Principles   oj   Fruit-growing. 


It  is,  of  course,  evident  that  there 
is  no  one  method  of  pruning  young 
trees  which  is  all  wrong,  nor  any  other 
which  is  all  right.  The  method  must 
always  be  modified  by  the  age  and 
shape  of  the  trees,  by  the  climate  (or 
part  of  the  country)  in  which  the  plan- 
tation is  set,  by  the  species  of  plants, 
and  especially  by  the  ideal  which  the 
grower  has  set  for  himself.  In  general, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  younger  the 
stock  the  more  nearly 
to  a  whip  it  may  be 
pruned. 


Fig.  30.     Grape  plant,  showing  where  it  should  be  pruned. 


Trimming 


Young    Stock. 


253 


It  may  be  said  in  general,  then,  that  peach  trees 
and  small  or  slender  trees  should  be  well  headed 
back  and  spurred  (Figs. 
23,24);  but  that  strong, 
well  branched  trees  may 
have  the  head  started 
at  the  desired  height 
at  the  time  of  setting, 
all  the  branches  being 
well  headed  back  (Figs. 
25  and  26).  Fig.  27 
shows  a  small  plum 
tree  cut  to  spurs,  and 
the  roots  have  also  been 
properly  dressed.  Figs. 
28  and  29  show  second- 
class  apple  trees.  In 
these  the  tops  are  not 
well  formed,  and  it 
might  be  best  to  trim 
to  a  whip,  allowing 
the  branches  A  to  be- 
come the  leaders.  Such 
whips  may  look  very 
crooked  and  scrawny, 
but  they  will  straighten 
as  they  grow.  The  lines 
in  Fig.  30  show  where 
a  grape  plant  should  be  pruned.  The  top  should 
be  cut  at  a  and  6,  the  upper  roots  trimmed  off  at 
c  and  d,  and  the  main  roots  cut  in  from  e  to  /. 


Fig   31.     Pruning  a  newly-set  tree. 


254  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

The  trees  may  be  trimmed  before  they  are  planted, 
although  it  is  generally  better  to  do  it  just  after 
they  are  set,  especially  if  the  tree  is  trimmed  after 
the  method  of  Fig.  26,  for  one  can  then  better  esti- 
mate the  proper  height,  the  operation  is  easier  done, 
and  there  is  no  further  danger  of  breaking  off  the 
limbs  by  the  handling  of  the  tree.  One  foot  is 
planted  firmly  at  the  base  of  the  tree,  and  then  with 
one  hand  the  branch  to  be  removed  is  bent  upwards 
and  with  the  other  the  knife  is  applied  to  the  under 
side  and  the  cut  is  made  neatly  and  easily  (Fig.  31, 
page  253) .  Never  cut  downwards  on  a  limb,  for  a 
ragged  wound  nearly  always  follows. 

In  fall -set  trees  it  is  generally  inadvisable  to 
prune  them  before  spring  (unless  the  tops  are  so 
heavy  and  the  bodies  so  weak  that  they  are  likely 
to  be  injured  by  wind) ,  because  the  cut  surfaces 
are  likely  to  dry  out.  The  roots  of  the  tree  are 
not  yet  sufficiently  established  in  the  soil  to  supply 
the  added  evaporation  which  takes  place  from  the 
wounds.  If  it  seems  to  be  desirable  to  trim  the 
trees  when  they  are  set,  they  should  be  cut  back 
only  part  way.  They  may  be  cut  again,  to  fresh 
wood,  in  the  spring. 

THE    LAYING -OUT    OF    THE    FRUIT    PLANTATION. 

It  is  difficult  to  make  the  rows  straight  in  large 
areas,  especially  on  rolling  ground.  Persons  who 
have  had  areas  regularly  surveyed  with  chain  and 
compass,  and  a  stake  set  for  every  tree,  may  have 


Making   the   Bows    Straight.  255 

found  the  orchards  to  be  as  crooked  as  others  set 
with  much  less  care.  The  surveyor  sets  his  stakes 
by  sighting  across  the  field  from  certain  fixed 
points  ;  but  it  is  difficult  for  the  planter,  when  the 
stake  is  removed  and  the  hole  dug,  to  stand  the 
tree  in  the  exact  place  of  the  stake.  It  is  better 
to  regard  the  trees  as  stakes  and  to  set  them  by 
sighting.  The  area  can  be  "run  out"  on  two  or 
three  of  the  sides,  a  conspicuous  stake  being  set  at 
the  location  of  each  tree  on  these  outside  rows.  If 
the  field  is  large  or  rolling,  it  may  be  necessary  to 
set  one  or  two  lines  of  stakes  across  the  center  of 
the  field  also.  For  areas  of  a  few  acres,  a  garden- 
line  stretched  across  the  field  will  be  found  to  be 
a  great  help  and  to  save  much  time.  This  line  is 
moved  at  either  end  to  the  adjoining  row,  as  soon 
as  one  row  is  set  alongside  it.  Persons  sometimes 
tie  conspicuous  strings  on  the  line  at  the  given 
intervals  between  the  trees,  expecting  to  set  a  tree 
at  every  knot,  but  with  the  stretching  of  the  line, 
and  other  sources  of  error,  it  is  nearly  impossible 
to  get  the  cross  rows  straight  in  this  manner,  and 
the  trees  must  be  kept  in  line  by  sighting. 

Upon  comparatively  level  fields,  especially  if  the 
land  is  in  good  tilth,  the  plantation  may  be  laid 
out  with  a  corn -marker.  If  the  planter  keeps  his 
back  to  the  row  of  trees  and  sights  ahead  to  the 
marked  line  or  furrow,  he  will  get  his  rows  straighter 
than  he  will  if  he  sights  by  the  trees.  Two  men 
are  better  than  one  when  setting  plants,  for  one 
usually  attends  to  the  sighting  whilst  the  other 


256  The   Principles   of  Fndt -growing. 

puts  in  the  plants.  There  are  various  devices  for 
locating  the  position  of  the  original  stake,  after  the 
hole  has  been  dug.  One  of  the  best  consists  sim- 
ply of  a  thin  board  three  or  four  inches  wide  and 
six  or  seven  feet  long,  with  a  notch  at  its  center, 
and  a  stationary  leg  or  pin  at  one  end  (a).  The 
other  end  (b)  is  provided  with  a  hole  to  receive  the 
top  of  another  stake  or  pin.  The  notch  is  set 
against  the  stake,  the  legs  at  each  end  of  the  board 
being  thrust  into  the  ground  at  the  same  time. 
The  end  (b)  is  now  raised  off  the  pin  or  leg,  and 
the  board  is  swung  around  out  of  the  range  of 
the  hole.  When  the  hole  is  dug,  the  end  (b)  is 
swung  back  and  dropped  upon  the  pin,  and  the  tree 
is  set  in  the  notch.* 

The  methods  of  laying  out  orchards  have  been 
discussed  in  detail  recently  by  H.  E.  Van  Demau, 
formerly  pomologist  of  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  and  copious  quotations  are 
made  from  these  writings. t 

"To  lay  out  with  the  ploic.—  Before  doing  any- 
thing, one  must  decide  which  style  or  arrangement 
of  the  trees  is  to  be  followed  and  the  distance  apart 
to  plant  them.  This  having  been  decided,  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  is  to  establish  a  base  line,  which 
should  be  along  a  fence,  road  or  some  other  perma- 
nent border  of  the  tract  to  be  planted.  Prepare 

*The  reader  will  find  this  implement  and  another  one  illustrated  on  page  56  of 
"Garden-Making." 

tH.  E.  Van  Deman,  "Laying  Out  Orchards,"  Green's  Fruit  Grower,  April, 
1897. 


Making   the   Bows   Straight.  257 

enough  small  split  stakes,  that  may  be  easily  seen, 
to  put  at  each  end  of  every  tree  row ;  that  is, 
enough  to  go  entirely  around  the  tract.  Then,  set 
a  stake  firmly  at  a  spot  which  shall  be  the  first 
established  corner  of  the  outside  limits  of  the 
orchard.  It  must,  however,  be  set  at  a  spot  which 
shall  also  be  the  end  of  another  line  running  exactly 
at  right  angles  to  the  base  line.  In  the  west, 
where  the  farms  are  nearly  all  laid  out  in  perfect 
squares  or  rectangles,  the  fields  are  apt  to  be  rec- 
tangular. In  the  absence  of  a  surveyor's  transit, 
a  carpenter's  square  may  be  used  to  establish  the 
lines,  by  sighting  along  its  edges  when  laid  on  the 
tops  of  three  stakes  at  the  corner.  Set  a  stake  at 
the  farther  end  of  each  of  these  lines.  From  this 
first  corner  stake  measure  along  the  base  line  fifteen 
feet,  or  as  far  as  it  is  thought  best  to  have  the 
width  of  the  margin  between  the  trees  and  the 
fence,  and  there  set  a  stake.  Next,  measure  along 
the  base  line  from  this  second  stake  the  distance 
that  the  trees  will  be  apart,  and  set  a  stake. 
Measure  along  the  entire  length  of  the  base  line, 
setting  a  stake  at  every  16%,  20,  25,  33  feet,  or 
whatever  distance  may  have  been  decided  upon. 
This  line  of  stakes  being  only  the  ends  of  the 
transverse  rows  and  not  the  places  for  trees,  they 
need  not  be  set  absolutely  in  a  straight  line,  but 
should  be  nearly  so.  Then,  go  back  to  the  original 
corner  stake  and  measure  fifteen  feet  at  right  angles 
to  the  base  line  and  set  a  stake,  which  determines 
the  width  of  the  border  next  the  base  line.  Now, 


258  The    Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

measure  and  set  stakes  along  this  other  side  of  the 
orchard  site,  up  to  the  stake  at  the  farther  end. 
The  two  remaining  sides  should  be  measured  and 
staked  in  the  same  way. 

"Provide  several  tall  stakes  with  a  white  rag  tied 
at  the  top  of  each,  to  use  as  sight  poles  at  each 
end.  If  one  can  run  a  straight  line  with  a  plow 
without  intermediate  sight  poles,  that  is,  with  only 
one  at  each  end,  these  will  be  enough  ;  but  I  have 
found  that  it  pays  to  have  an  extra  line  of  stakes 
set  a  few  rods  from  each  end,  and  a  guide  pole  to 
be  set  at  each  in  turn,  as  the  laying -out  pro- 
gresses. 

"We  are  now  ready  for  the  plow.  Some  like 
one  horse,  but  two  make  the  plow  run  steadier,  and 
it  is  easier  for  the  plowman  to  sight  between  two 
horses  than  over  the  head  of  one.  My  plan  is,  to 
first  mark  out  crosswise  to  the  way  I  intend  to 
plant,  and  to  make  but  a  single  shallow  furrow. 
This  being  done,  we  are  ready  to  make  the  fur- 
rows iii  which  to  plant.  If  these  run  up  and 
down  the  slope  they  will  act  as  a  drain  to  the 
trees,  in  some  measure.  By  plowing  two  rounds 
and  finishing  with  a  dead -furrow  or  trench  on  the 
line,  and  then  subsoiling  in  the  bottom  of  it,  there 
will  be  very  little  work  for  the  spade  in  preparing 
to  set  the  trees.  It  "is  by  no  means  difficult  to 
set  them  in  the  checks,  with  a  little  sighting,  so 
straight  that  no  one  would  know  but  that  they  were 
set  by  a  line.  After  setting  the  trees,  hitch  one 
horse  to  a  plow  with  a  very  short  singletree  covered 


Making   the   Rows   Straight.  259 

with  rags  at  the  ends  to  prevent  injuring  the  trees, 
and  fill  up  the  trench  at  two  rounds.  Then  plow 
the  space  between  the  rows.  One  thing  must  be  very 
carefully  figured  out  the  very  first  thing,  if  the  hex- 
agonal style  is  used  (which  I  prefer  and  use),  and 
that  is,  the  distances  between  the  rows  at  right 
angles,  and  not  diagonally  from  tree  to  tree,  and 
then  accurately  measured  and  staked  on  the  outer 
lines.  The  great  Wellhouse  orchards,  in  Kansas,  were 
laid  out  with  the  plow.  J.  H.  Hale  substituted  a 
60 -cent  per  day  darkey  and  a  mule  for  a  six -dollar 
surveyor  and  transit,  in  laying  out  his  rows  for 
planting  his  600 -acre  peach  orchard  in  Georgia. 

"Laying  out  with  a  line.— For  small  orchards  of  an 
acre  or  two,  I  have  often  practiced  a  method  of 
laying  out  in  the  hexagonal  stj'le,  which  is  very 
quickly  and  easily  done.  As  many  stakes  are  pro- 
vided as  there  are  trees  to  be  set.  A  wire  is  pre- 
pared of  the  exact  length  that  the  trees  are  to  be 
apart,  and  a  ring  or  loop  twisted  in  at  each  end, 
by  which  to  hold  it.  A  base  line  is  established  by 
setting  stakes  just  where  each  tree  will  be  in  the  first 
row.  One  person  (A)  slips  a  finger  through  one 
ring,  and  another  (B)  takes  the  other  end  of  the 
wire  and  runs  a  small  stick  through  the  ring.  A 
holds  his  end  exactly  at  stake  1,  and  B  steps  to 
where  he  supposes  the  first  tree  of  the  second  row 
will  come,  and  with  the  point  of  his  stick  marks  a 
small  segment  of  a  circle  on  the  ground.  He  remains 
there  while  A  goes  to  stake  2  and  holds  his  end 
exactly  to  it.  B  describes  another  arc  on  the 


260  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

ground,  and  where  it  crosses  the  first  one  he  sets  a 
stake,  and  moves  to  the  place  for  the  next  stake. 
There  he  makes  a  mark,  and  A  then  goes  to  stake 
3  of  the  base  line  and  holds  the  wire  as  before, 
while  B  finds  the  crossing  of  the  marks  and  sets 
another  stake ;  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  row. 
When  the  second  row  is  complete  it  is  used  as  a 
base  line  from  which  to  make  a  third,  etc.,  etc.  If 
the  work  is  done  carefully  the  stakes  will  be  found 
to  be  in  very  straight  rows  every  way.  I  have 
tried  it  on  some  of  the  roughest  hills  in  northern 
Michigan,  where,  in  newly  cleared  places  the  stumps 
were  very  thick,  and  planted  nice  orchards  that  are 
now  over  twenty -five  years  old,  that  look  to-day  as 
if  the  trees  might  have  been  set  by  a  compass  and 
chain.  On  level  ground,  free  from  obstructions,  it 
is  fun  to  lay  out  an  orchard  so. 

"Another  line  method. — Another  cheap  and  handy 
method  is,  to  mark  and  set  by  a  wire  long  enough 
to  reach  entirely  across  the  field.  It  should  be 
stretched  tightly  between  two  stout  stakes  that  have 
been  firmly  driven  into  the  ground,  and  exactly  on 
the  line  of  the  first  row  to  be  planted.  Directly 
over  the  place  for  the  first  tree  or  vine,  wrap  a 
small  wire  two  or  three  times  and  twist  the  ends 
tightly,  so  it  cannot  slip.  Measure  along  the  wire 
to  the  next  place  and  fasten  another  wire  coil,  and 
so  on  to  the  end.  If  these  little  coils  were  soldered 
fast  they  could  not  move.  A  little  piece  of  bright 
cloth  should  be  tied  over  them,  that  the  places  may 
be  easily  seen.  Now,  dig  the  holes  and  plant  the 


Staking    Out   an    Orchard.  261 

first  row  while  the  wire  is  in  place.  Then  move 
the  wire  and  stakes  to  the  second  row  and  stretch 
as  before,  being  very  careful  to  have  the  first  mark 
exactly  where  the  first  tree  should  be.  Proceed  to 
dig  and  plant  as  before.  Move  the  wire  to  the  third 
row,  and  so  on  throughout.  This  obviates  all 
necessity  for  marking  off  upon  the  ground,  except 
the  distances  between  the  rows  and  a  starting  point 
on  each  row.  Some  of  the  most  accurately  planted 
orchards  and  vineyards  I  have  ever  seen  were  planted 
by  this  method  at  the  North  Carolina  Experiment 
Station  at  Southern  Pines,  and  elsewhere  in  that 
region,  and  there  I  got  the  idea.  It  is  entirely 
practical.  The  wire  can  be  wound  on  a  reel,  and 
thus  be  easily  moved  about  the  farm  or  stored  for 
further  use." 

Staking  methods. — There  are  so  many  methods  of 
staking  out  an  orchard,  that  it  will  interest  the 
reader  if  one  of  the  best  of  them  is  described. 
The  Yeomans  plan  is  as  follows:*  "In  connection 
with  the  accompanying  diagram,  is  explained  an 
easy,  simple  and  accurate  way  of  marking  out  the 
ground  and  planting  the  trees  without  putting  any 
stakes  where  trees  are  to  be  planted  or  removing 
any  while  planting.  The  stakes  not  only  show 
where  to  dig  the  holes,  but  when  the  planting  is 
to  be  done  the  same  stakes  indicate  the  precise 
place  where  the  trees  are  to  be  placed,  always  sight- 
ing only  by  the  stakes  in  setting,  without  any  regard 

*T.  G.  Yeomans,  Walworth,  N.  Y.,  Country  Gentleman,  Lsi.  288  (Apr.  9,  1896). 


262  The   Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

to  the  trees  planted.  Thus  all  the  stakes  will  be 
standing  when  the  last  tree  is  planted,  showing  the 
accuracy  of  the  work  done. 

"The    outside    line    of   the    diagram    represents   the 


NOKTH  -  —  1  C 

*     F     ' 

.  .  10 


g      . Q, 


a 


-    SOUTlf— 

Fig.  32.    Diagram  to  illustrate  the  planting  of  an  orchard. 

ground  to  be  planted ;  the  dots  are  stakes,  by  means 
of  which  the  location  of  each  tree  can  readily  be 
found  without  any  measurements  ;  but  none  of  them 
stand  where  trees  are  to  be  planted.  The  ground 
being  properly  prepared  for  one  hundred  trees,  pro- 


Staking    Out   the    Ground.  263 

vide  sixty  lath  as  very  suitable  stakes — light,  straight 
and  of  proper  length — lay  them  on  the  ground  or 
a  board  and  whitewash  on  each  side  about  a  foot 
or  more  at  one  end,  by  which  they  can  readily  be 
seen  at  a  distance  and  distinguished  from  any  other 
stake  or  object.  Let  two  men  with  a  tape  line  start 
at  the  corner  of  the  ground  at  D,  and  measure 
25  feet  along  the  east  side  to  1  and  then  set  a 
stake ;  thence  measure  40  feet  to  2,  setting  a 
stake,  and  continue  to  10,  putting  a  stake  every 
40  feet  to  C,  setting  all  stakes  as  perpendicular  as 
possible. 

"Then  with  ten  stakes  start  at  B  and  measure 
the  same  distance  toward  A,  sticking  a  stake  first  at 
25  feet,  and  after  that  40  feet,  to  correspond  with 
those  on  the  east  side.  And  on  the  same  plan  and 
in  the  same  manner,  stick  ten  stakes  40  feet  apart 
along  the  north  and  south  bounds  of  the  orchard, 
and  entirely  outside  of  where  any  trees  are  to  be 
planted,  being  particular  that  no  trees  shall  be 
planted  nearer  than  25  feet  to  the  fences  surround- 
ing the  orchard,  for  the  reason  that  when  the  trees 
become  large,  as  much  as  25  feet  of  space  will  be 
necessary  to  allow  a  spraying  wagon  and  fixtures 
to  pass  in  spraying  the  trees  properly,  and  to  place 
ladders  about  the  trees  for  gathering  the  fruit. 

"The  stakes  being  set  around  the  orchard  ground 
at  proper  distances,  the  tape  line  is  no  longer 
needed,  as  the  cross  intermediate  rows  of  stakes  are 
to  be  set  by  sight.  Now  let  one  man  take  ten  of 
the  white -top  stakes  and  go  about  to  E  (at  bottom 


2G4  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

of  diagram,  and  another  man  go  to  the  first  stake 
north  of  1),  and  sight  the  man  at  E  precisely 
where  to  stick  a  stake  in  line  with  the  two  stakes 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  ground ;  then  move  north- 
ward to  2,  and  stick  a  stake  between  2  and  2;  and 
thus  continue  from  south  to  north  and  from  east 
to  west,  through  and  not  far  from  the  middle  of 
the  field,  being  careful  not  to  place  either  of  these 
intermediate  rows  where  a  row  of  trees  is  to  be 
planted.  These  rows  need  not  be  straight,  but  each 
stake  must  be  in  line  with  the  corresponding  stakes 
at  the  right  and  left. 

"With  the  stakes  thus  placed,  a  person  moving 
anywhere  about  the  ground  to  be  planted  can  readily 
find,  by  looking  in  the  direction  of  two  stakes  in 
two  directions  at  right  angles,  precisel}'  where  a  tree 
is  to  be  planted.  Thus,  a  person  standing  at  either 
+  is  at  a  point  where  a  tree  must  stand,  and  at 
either  of  those  points  will  see  two  stakes  in  a  line 
with  him  in  two  directions  at  right  angles  ;  and 
so  of  every  point  where  a  tree  is  to  be  planted. 
If  men  are  to  be  employed  to  dig  the  holes  who 
are  not  capable  of  setting  a  stake  in  line  with  two 
other  stakes  already  standing  (there  are  such  men), 
let  some  one  who  can  do  so  go  through  the  field, 
and  with  point  of  stake  or  other  thing,  mark  where 
the  holes  are  to  be  dug. 

"With  this  arrangement  no  stakes  are  placed 
where  the  trees  are  to  be  planted.  Any  number  of 
men  can  go  on  with  the  work  of  digging  the  holes 
and  planting  in  any  part  of  the  orchard  without 


Hexagonal   or    Quincunx   Planting.  265 

reference  to  any  other  trees  in  any  other  part. 
The  writer  has  planted  about  150  acres  of  apple 
and  100  acres  of  peach  orchard  on  this  plan,  and 
has  furnished  many  parties  brief  descriptions  of  same 
for  planting ;  has  planted  rows  30  to  40  rods  long 
of  nice  trees,  so  straight  in  line  that  a  stake  two 
inches  in  diameter  set  up  in  the  row  would  hide 
every  tree  from  view,  looking  from  the  end  thereof." 
Orchard  plans. — Van  Deman*  writes  fully  upon 
the  methods  of  constructing  a  plan  of  an  orchard, 
as  follows  : 

"The  hexagonal,  Van  Deman  plan.— The  plan  that  will  best 
economize  space  is  what  is  known  as  the  '  hexagonal '  plan.  It 
is  a  system  of  equilateral  triangles,  and  is  sometimes  called  the 
'  triangular '  system.  It  puts  all  adjacent  trees  equally  distant 
from  each  other.  This  is  the  plan  I  have  followed  in  all  my 
own  plantings,  and  now  think  it  the  best  I  have  ever  seen.  I 
have  practiced  upon  the  additional  idea  of  planting  temporary 
trees  alternately  with  permanent  ones,  and  leaving  alleys  be- 
tween eveiy  fifth  and  sixth  row,  which  I  have  never  seen  in  any 
other  orchards  of  the  hexagonal  style  ;  therefore,  I  have  called 
this  part  of  it  the  '  Van  Deman '  plan.  In  the  lower  part  of 
Fig.  33  it  may  be  seen.  By  this  plan  there  may  be  planted 
156  trees  per  acre  one  rod  apart,  with  every  sixth  row  left  out 
for  an  alley,  which  gives  easy  access  to  wagons  for  gathering 
fruit,  and  for  any  other  necessity.  The  permanent  trees  are 
marked  by  the  letter  P  throughout  this  and  all  the  other  plans. 
These  trees  are  two  rods,  or  33  feet,  apart,  which,  for  apple  trees 
in  most  climates  and  soils,  is  sufficient.  In  Michigan,  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  York  and  some  other  localities  where  apple  trees 

*H.  E.  Van  Deman,  "Plans  for  Orchard  Planting,"  Rural  New-Yorker, 
March  6  and  13,  1897.  Revised  for  this  occasion  by  Mr.  Van  Deman. 

For  tables  giving  the  number  of  plants  to  the  acre,  see  "  The  Horticultur- 
ists' Rule-Book,"  4th  ed.,  pp.  115-119. 


26G  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

grow  to  very  large  size,  40  to  45  feet  is  none  too  far  apart  for 
permanent  trees.  The  places  for  the  temporary  trees  or,  'fillers,' 
are  designated  by  the  letter  F.  The  fillers  reduce  the  distance 
between  trees  to  one  rod,  or  16%  feet,  except  where  the  alleys 
occur,  which  are  28%  feet  wide.  The  fillers  should  be  of  early- 

( NORTH ) 


P  P  P  P 

P  P  P  P 

P  P  P  P 

P  P  P  P 

52  permanent  trees,  33  feet  apart. 


P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

'F 

P 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

104  trees, 

16Kx2{ 

%  feet 

apart. 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

F 

F 

F 

F 

F 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

F 

F 

F 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

F 

F 

F 

F 

F 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

F 

P 

P  F  P  F  P  F  P  F 

156  trees,  16%  *  16%  feet  apart,  after  leaving  out  two  rows  for  alleys 


(SOUTH) 

Fig.  33.    Hexagonal  plan. 

bearing  kinds,  such  as  Wagener,  Missouri  or  Wealthy,  which 
will  usually  pay  the  cost  of  the  entire  orchard  within  the  first 
ten  years.  In  the  middle  section  of  Fig.  33  are  104  trees  per 
acre,  in  which  all  the  intermediate  rows  are  left  out,  the  fillers 
only  equaling  the  permanent  trees.  These  are  preferably  in 
the  rows  running  north  and  south,  that  the  trees  may  in  some 


Orchard   Plans.  267 

measure  protect  each  other  from  the  force  of  the  prevailing 
southerly  winds  in  the  prairie  states,  especially ;  and  some 
think  from  the  hot  sun,  also.  This  is  one  of  my  favorite  plans. 
It  gives  ample  room  to  cultivate,  and  is  just  right  for  planting 
six  rows  of  corn,  which  for  the  first  five  or  six  years  is  advis- 




(NORTH) 

p 

P                             P 

P 

p 

P 

P 

p 

P                             P 

P 

p 

P 

P 

p 

P                             P 

P 

p 

P 

P 

46  permanent  trees,  33  x  41%  feet  apart. 

P               F 

P                     F                    P 

F 

P 

F               P 

F                      P                      F 

P 

F 

P                   F 

P                     F                    P 

F 

P 

F                    P 

F                     P                    F 

P 

F 

92  trees,  33  x  16%  feet  apart. 

. 

P          F          F 

F         P                     F         F         P 

F         F 

P 

F         F         P 

F         F                     P         F         F 

F         P 

F 

P         F         F 

F         P                     F         F         P 

F         F 

P 

143  trees,  16%x  16%  feet  apart,  leaving  out  tw 

o  rows  for  alleys. 

(SOUTH) 

Fig.  34.     Alternate  plan. 

able.  The  upper  section  of  the  diagram  shows  only  the  perma- 
nent trees,  of  which  there  are  52  per  acre.  The  rows  are  28% 
feet  wide  three  ways,  and  permit  cultivating  the  trees  accord- 
ingly. 

"The  aUeniateplan.  —  Fig.Sl   shows  the   alternate  plan,  and 
is  in  all  particulars  like  Fig.  33,  except  that   the  rows  are  fully 


268  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

33  feet  apart,  instead  of  2S%.  The  trees  are  to  be  planted  alter- 
nately, just  as  bricks  are  laid  in  a  wall.  In  the  lower  section 
there  are  143  trees  per  acre;  in  the  middle  one  92,  and  in  the 
upper,  fully  thinned  section,  there  are  46  permanent  trees. 

"T/ie  Wellhouse  plan. — Almost   every   fruit-grower    has    heard 


(NORTH) 

P          P 

P 

P 

P               P 

P 

P         P 

P 

P 

P               P 

P 

P         P 

P 

P 

P               P 

P 

49  permanent  trees,  :i2 

feet  apart. 

P                P 

P 

P 

P                P 

P 

P                P 

P 

P 

P                P 

P 

F                      F 

F 

F 

F                     F 

F 

P                    P 

P 

P 

P                   P 

P 

F                      F 

F 

F 

F                      F 

F 

P                    P 

P 

P 

P                     P 

P 

98  trees, 

32  x  16  feet 

apart. 

(SOUTH) 

Fig.  35. 

Wellhoub 

e  plan. 

of  Hon.  F.  Wellhouse,  of  Kansas,  who  is  called  'The  Apple 
King  of  America.'  Well  may  he  be  so  called,  for  he  and 
his  son,  who  is  in  company  with  him,  have  over  1,600  acres 
of  apple  orchard,  ranging  from  two  to  twenty-two  years 
planted.  His  trees  are  planted  32  x  16  feet  apart,  in  rectan- 
gular style,  as  shown  in  the  lower  section  of  Fig.  35,  the 


Plans  for    Orchards.  269 

wide  spaces  running  north  and  south ;  this  makes  98  trees 
per  acre.  The  upper  section  shows  the  permanent  trees  in 
exact  squares  32  feet  each  way,  as  is  now  the  case  in  his 
older  orchards  that  have  been  thinned,  49  trees  standing  on 
an  acre.  He  has  not  mixed  the  varieties,  as  is  indicated  in 

(NORTH.) 


p 

P                                             P                                             P 

p 

P                                              P 

p 

P                                             P                                            P 

32  trees,  42  feet  apart. 

p         p 

P               P               P               P               P 

p         p 

P               P               P               P               P 

63  trees,  32  x  20  feet  apart. 

P        F        P        P 

P             PrPFP             PF 

P        F        P        F 

P             PFPFP             PF 

P        F        P        F 

P             PFPFP             PF 

PFPFP  PFPFP  PF 

108  trees,  16  x  20  feet  apart,  leaving  out  2  rows  for  alleys. 

(SOUTH.) 
Fig.  36.    Parker  Earle  plan. 

the  illustration,  so  far  as  I  know,  but  planted  *  such  varieties 
in  solid  blocks  as  would  bear  reasonably  early ;  but  it  would 
seem  to  me  that,  if  such  kinds  as  Missouri  were  planted  in 
rows  between  the  others  and  to  be  removed,  it  would  be  better 
than  planting  each  by  itself.  But,  aside  from  his  published 
statements  of  the  results  of  his  enterprise,  I  know,  from  a  long 


270  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

and  intimate  acquaintance  with  Judge  Wellhouse  and  his  or- 
chards, that  they  have  done  remarkably  well. 

"The  Parker  Earle  plan. —  The  plan  originated  by  Parker 
Earle,  who  is  one  of  the  leading  western  horticulturists,  is 
shown  at  Fig.  36.  He  has  planted  several  hundred  acres  of 
apples  after  this  plan  in  the  famous  Pecos  Valley  of  New 
Mexico,  where  the  trees  come  into  bearing  very  early.  They 
are  16  feet  apart  east  and  west  by  20  feet  north  and  south, 
except  that  every  sixth  row  is  left  out  for  an  alley,  as  in 
the  lower  section  of  the  diagram.  There  are  108  trees  per 
acre.  The  intention  is  to  cut  out  every  other  north  and 
south  row,  thus  leaving  them  as  shown  in  the  middle  sec- 
tion, 32x20  feet.  There  will  then  be  63  trees  per  acre. 
One-half  of  these  may  be  taken  out  later,  if  more  space  be 
needed,  leaving  at  the  rate  of  32  trees  per  acre,  42  feet 
apart.  This  will  give  ample  space  when  the  trees  get  to  be 
very  large;  but  in  that  climate,  and  northward  to  Colorado, 
Utah  and  Idaho,  the  trees  are  so  precocious,  and  bear  so 
abundantly,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  will  ever  attain 
size  to  need  so  much  space. 

"The  Olden  plan. — Who  has  not  heard  of  the  famous  Olden 
Fruit  Farm,  in  southern  Missouri  ?  I  made  three  prolonged 
visits  there  to  see  it  at  different  times  of  the  year,  and  it 
is  well  worth  seeing.  The  oldest  parts  of  the  apple  orchards 
are  just  at  good  bearing  age.  It  is  planted  mostly  to  apples 
and  peaches,  but  there  are  a  few  pears,  plums  and  small 
fruits.  Each  year  more  are  added;  last  year  960  acres  were 
planted.  J.  C.  Evans  and  L.  A.  Goodman  are  the  leading 
spirits  of  the  company  that  owns  and  runs  it.  Their  plan 
for  apples  is  25x25  feet,  in  plain  squares,  and  all  of  one 
variety  in  a  block,  making  64  trees  per  acre,  as  in  the  lower 
section  of  Fig.  37.  The  trees  have  not  come  to  the  age 
that  requires  thinning  by  the  ax,  but  they  will  do  so  in 
time,  for  apple  trees  grow  to  a  very  large  size  in  that  rich 
soil  and  agreeable  climate.  When  it  does  come,  they  will 
take  out  every  other  diagonal  row,  leaving  32  trees  per  acre, 
37%  feet  apart  the  nearest  way  (diagonally) ,  and  50  feet  east 


Plans   of  Orchards.  271 

and  west,  as  in  the  upper  section.  While  it  may  seem  pre- 
sumptuous for  me  to  suggest  an  improvement  on  a  plan  so 
well  matured,  and  by  such  eminently  practical  orchardists,  and, 
when  it  is  true  that  the  apple  bears  quite  young  and  pro- 
fusely in  all  that  Ozark  Mountain  region,  yet  it  does  seem 

(NORTH.] 


p 
p 

P                           P                           P 
P                              P                          P 

32  permanent  trees,  37%  feet  apart. 

F              P 

F                P                F                 P                 F                 P 

1 

P                  F 

P                  F                  P                   F                   P                   F 

F                  P 

F                  P                  F                   P                   F                   P 

Modified  Olden  plan:    64  trees,  25x25  feet  apart. 

P              P 

p         p         p         p         p         p 

I 

P              P 

p         p         p         p         p         p 

| 

P             P 

p        p        p        p        p        p 

1 
| 

Olden  pi 

an  proper  :   64  trees,  25x25  feet  apart. 

! 

(SOUTH.) 

Fig.  37.     Olden  plan. 

to  me  that  it  might  be  well  to  mix  the  varieties  in  the 
row,  filling  in  each  alternate  diagonal  row  with  the  earliest- 
bearing  varieties  to  be  planted,  and  thus  preparing  for  their 
removal  and  the  retention  of  those  of  a  less  precocious  and 
more  durable  character.  This  modified  plan  I  have  depicted 
in  the  central  section  of  Fig.  37. 


272  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

"  Olden  and  Hale  plans  for  peach  orchards. — The  Olden  plan 
for  a  peach  orchard  is,  to  have  the  trees  IG/^xlG^  feet 
apart  each  way,  and  in  plain  squares,  making  169  trees  per 
acre,  as  in  the  lower  section  of  Fig.  38.  At  convenient  dis- 
tances for  the  passage  of  wagons,  roads  are  laid  out,  making 

(NORTH.) 


()    0    O    0    0    ()    ()    ()    ()    0    O    O    O    O    O    O    ()    O 

:    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    \ 

ooooooooooooooooooi 
ooooooooooooooooooj 

O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    O    '• 
Hale  plan  :    'JK'J  trees  per  acre,  II!  x  13  feet  apart. 


O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 

O  O  O  O  •()  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 

O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  ()  O  O 

O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 

()  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 

()  O  O  O  <)  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  () 

O  O  O  O  O  O  C)  O  O  O  O  O  O 

Olden  plan  :  109  trees  per  acre,  10}^x  1G>£  feet  apart. 


(SOUTH.) 

Fig.  38.    Hale  and  Olden  plans  for  peach  orchard. 

a  series  of  large  blocks.  The  contour  of  the  ground  and 
intervening  rocky  hillsides  or  oak  forests  left  standing, 
do  not  always  permit  these  blocks  to  be  of  regular  size  or 
shape. 

"Then,  -we    have    the    great    Hale   peach    orchards  in  Georgia 
and    Connecticut,    and    who    has    not    heard    of    them    and    of 


Plans  for  Peach    Orchards.  273 

their  stirring  Yankee  proprietor,  J.  H.  Hale,  of  Connecticut  T 
He  plants  13  x  13  feet,  which  seems  extremely  close,  even  for 
peach  trees  in  Connecticut.  As  I  walked  through  them  with 
Mr.  Hale,  I  repeatedly  expressed  such  an  idea,  but  he  refuted 
it  as  often,  gave  favorable  statements  from  experience,  and 
then  he  would  say,  'There  are  the  trees;  do  they  not  look 
thrifty  enough  ? '  And  I  could  not  say  but  that  they  did. 
But  he  feeds  them  like  a  lot  of  pigs  in  a  pen.  He  prunes 
them  back  to  bearing,  paying  and  convenient  size.  He  is 
not  growing  peach  trees  for  fuel  simply;  although  they  will 
go  into  the  wood  and  brush  piles  whenever  their  day  of 
usefulness  is  over,  and  others  be  planted  in  their  stead. 
Streets  are  laid  out  both  ways  through  his  Georgia  orchard 
of  600  acres,  cutting  it  into  regular  blocks  1,000x500  feet  in 
size.  There  are  289  trees  per  acre,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
upper  part  of  Fig.  38. 

"The  Delaware  and  Maryland  peach  orchards  are  set  wider 
than  those  already  mentioned.  The  trees  grow  to  large  size, 
and  utilize  the  16  to  20  feet  space  given  them.  The  Michi- 
gan peach  orchards  are  set  somewhat  closer,  and  those  of 
the  northern  part  of  the  peach  belt  along  the  lake  are  de- 
cidedly so.  I  have  visited  all  of  these  sections  and  exam- 
ined the  orchards,  finding  the  square  or  hexagonal  styles  the 
most  popular.  In  Texas  and  California  I  saw  large,  thrifty 
peach  trees  that  needed  as  much  space  as  any,  and  planted 
in  the  most  exact  manner,  usually  in  squares  or  hexagons,  at 
from  18  to  24  feet  apart. 

"The  pear,  cherry,  plum  and  prune  (some  plums  are  called 
prunes,  especially  in  the  Pacific  states),  taking  the  country 
over,  are  all  subject  to  the  same  conditions  and  variations 
of  climates  and  soil  as  the  apple  and  peach,  and,  like  them, 
they  can  properly  be  planted  in  any  of  these  styles  men- 
tioned, the  distances  being  changed  to  suit  each.  The  pear, 
being  an  upright  grower,  as  a  rule,  does  not  need  so  much 
room  as  the  apple;  20  feet  apart  is  a  common  distance  to 
plant  standards,  and  10  to  12  feet  for  dwarfs.  The  Kieffer, 
Le  Conte  and  Garber  bear  very  early  as  standards,  and  may 

S 


274 


The    Principles   of  Fruit- growing. 


be    planted    about    16    feet    apart,    and    thinned    out    as    they 
crowd  each  other. 

"The  sour  cherries  need  about  18  to  20  feet,  while  the 
larger-growing  sweet  varieties  require  fully  20  feet,  and  in 
time,  if  they  are  not  pruned  back  severely,  40  or  more  feet 
when  they  attain  their  full  size.  Plum  orchards  should  vary 


9  Ft.          C  Ft.      C  Ft.  9  Ft. 

Fig.  39.     Setting  small-fruits  in  an  orchard. 

somewhat  in  closeness  with  the  varieties  planted.  The  great 
prune  orchards  of  the  Pacific  slope  are  set  with  about  20 
feet  between  the  trees.  The  orchards  of  our  native  species 
require  about  the  same  room ;  but  the  Japanese  class  is 
usually  more  upright  in  growth,  and  may  be  planted  a  little 
closer." 


The   Rome   Fruit    Garden. 


275 


Hutt    describes*  the  following  method  of   planting 
small -fruits   in   an   orchard:     "The   bushes    were    ar- 


j  i 

1 8 1  f 
1 1 11 

J        O        02       'Jl 


Fig.  40.    Suggestion  for  a  fruit  garden  of  one  acre. 

ranged   so   that   cultivation   may  be   given   both  ways 
with   a   minimum   amount   of   hand   hoeing.      The  ac- 


"Twenty-seeond  Ann.  Rep.  Ontario  Agr.  College,  84  (1897). 


276  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

companying  plan  (Fig.  39)  shows  the  arrangement 
of  the  trees  and  bushes.  The  trees  are  planted  on 
the  hexagonal  plan,  the  rows  being  30  feet  apart 
and  the  trees  35  feet  apart  in  the  rows,  the  trees 
in  one  row  alternating  with  those  in  the  next.  By 
this  method  of  arrangement,  15  per  cent  more  trees 
can  be  planted  to  the  acre  than  by  the  ordinary 
method,  and  yet  not  be  any  more  crowded.  The 
bushes  are  6  feet  apart  one  way  by  5  feet  10  inches 
the  other.  At  present  no  trees  are  nearer  than  9  feet  to 
the  apple  trees.  As  the  trees  increase  in  size,  those 
bushes  within  the  circles,  as  shown  on  the  plan,  will 
be  the  first  to  be  removed." 

The  family  fruit  plantation. — It  is  impossible  to 
give  any  specific  advice  for  the  plan  of  a  family  fruit 
garden,  because  tastes  are  so  personal,  and  the 
amount  and  character  of  land  at  the  disposal  of  the 
party  are  so  various.  One  can  only  say  that  the 
varieties  should  be  chosen  for  best  dessert  and  culi- 
nary qualities,  for  succession  through  the  season,  and 
that  the  area  should  be  so  planted  that  the  rows  run 
the  long  way  of  the  land  and  to  allow  of  easy  cul- 
tivation with  a  horse.  In  general,  it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  provide  for  cultivation  both  ways.  The 
accompanying  diagram  (Fig.  40)  suggests  how  an 
area  of  one  acre  may  be  laid  out  in  a  fruit  garden 
for  the  home  supply.  For  a  number  of  years,  other 
plants  —  as  vegetables,  small-fruits,  or  dwarf  apples 
or  dwarf  pears— may  be  grown,  not  only  between 
the  rows,  but  between  the  trees  in  the  row. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE     SECONDARY    AND     INCIDENTAL     CARE     OF     THE 
FRUIT  PLANTATION. 

THE  methods  of  tilling  the  fruit  plantation  have 
been  fully  considered  in  Chapter  III.,  but  since  the 
subject  is  so  important  and  so  commonly  misunder- 
stood, it  may  be  well  to  repeat  two  or  three  of  the 
advisory  suggestions  at  this  place.  There  are  many 
persons  who  fully  believe  that  clean  tillage  is  the 
proper  treatment  for  an  orchard,  but  who  are  de- 
barred from  putting  the  matter  into  practice  because 
of  the  great  amount  of  labor  which  they  conceive  to 
attach  to  it.  As  commonly  practiced,  it  is  certainly 
true  that  the  tilling  of  orchards  is  one  of  the  most 
laborious  duties  of  the  farm,  but  this  is  because  the 
accustomed  methods  are  wrong  or  bungling.  The 
orchardist  rarely  has  the  land  fully  under  his  control. 
The  essence  of  the  whole  matter  is  to  get  the  land 
in  ideal  condition  whilst  the  orchard  is  young,  and 
then  to  practice  surface  tillage  (with  only  occasional 
plo wings)  after  the  trees  begin  to  bear.  The  use  of 
modern  implements  makes  it  easy  to  keep  the  land 
clean  without  resorting  to  the  high  trunks  of  the 
old-time  orchards.  If  the  roots  are  made  to  strike 
deep  into  the  land  by  deep  plowing  for  the  first 
(277) 


278  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

few  years,  it  may  not  be  necessary  to  turn  any 
furrows  in  the  plantation  in  later  years,  except  to 
turn  under  cover  crops. 

All  this  can  be  done  even  with  hard  clay  land. 
The  writer  has  the  management  of  two  orchards 
upon  very  hard  clay  of  uneven  surface,  which,  in  six 
years  from  the  setting  of  the  trees,  is  in  such  con- 
dition that  deep  plowing  is  no  longer  necessary,  and 
the  spring  fitting  of  the  land  is  done  with  spading 
harrows  and  spring- tooth  harrows,  and  the  subse- 
quent tilling  is  partly  done  with  a  spike -tooth  har- 
row. Weeds  are  not  allowed  to  appear ;  but  if  a 
patch  should  get  a  start  now  and  then,  it  can  gen- 
erally be  destroyed  with  the  cultivator.  Perhaps 
once  or  twice  during  the  season  it  will  be  necessary 
to  send  a  man  through  the  orchard  with  a  hoe  to 
take  the  weeds  away  from  the  trees,  but  the  space 
which  needs  such  hand  labor  will  not  exceed  two 
feet  in  diameter,  and  it  is  usually  very  much  less. 
This,  has  been  accomplished  by  exercising  great  care 
to  plow  the  clay  when  it  is  in  such  condition  that 
it  pulverizes  when  it  is  worked,  and  by  the  incor- 
poration of  one  or  two  cover  crops.  It  will  be 
necessary  now  and  then  to  put  cover  crops  on  the 
land  for  the  purpose  of  adding  humus,  and  the  land 
will  then  be  regularly  plowed  in  spring  to  turn  the 
crop  under;  but  even  then  it  may  not  be  the  de- 
sire to  secure  a  heavy  growth  of  cover  crop,  and 
the  spring  plowing  need  not  necessarily  be  deep  and 
laborious.  If,  however,  it  seems  to  be  necessary  to 
plow  six  or  eight  inches  deep,  there  will  be  no 


Root -pruning.  279 

hesitation  in  doing  so,  for  the  roots  are  deep  enough 
to  escape  the  plow  if  the  plowman  is  ordinarily 
careful  about  the  trees. 

It  is  not  necessarily  a  misfortune  to  cut  the 
smaller  roots  of  plants  with  the  plow,  providing 
only  a  few  are  cut  in  any  year.  In  other  words, 
it  is  no  doubt  safer  to  sever  a  good  many  roots  a 


Fig.  41.     A  broken  grape  root  sending  out  branches. 

half  inch,  or  sometimes  even  an  inch,  in  diameter, 
than  not  to  plow  the  orchard  at  all.  The  severed 
roots  generally  send  out  numerous  branches  near 
their  ends,  and  these  branches  increase  the  forag- 
ing power  of  the  root  in  soil  which  is  normally  laid 
under  small  tribute.  Figs.  41  and  42  are  drawn 
from  actual  specimens  of  roots  which  were  broken 
by  the  plow.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  absorbing 


280 


The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 


area  of  the  root  had  been  actually  increased,  for  the 
many  small  roots  certainly  present  more  surface  than 
the  main  shaft  of  the  root  did.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  the  real  surface  of  the  original 
root  extended  far  beyond  the  present  point,  and 
there  is  no  way  of  telling  if  the  adventitious  roots 
actually  present  more  surface  than  the  whole  of  the 
original  root  did.  But  it  is  probable  that  an  occa- 


Fig.  42.    Showing  the  numerous  adventitious  branches  of  a  broken  apple  root. 

sional    light    root -pruning    may   do    more    good    than 
harm   in   some   cases. 

The  particular  methods  of  caring  for  plantations 
of  small -fruits  can  scarcely  be  discussed  in  a  gen- 
eral work  on  fruit-growing,  but  in  general  it  may 
be  said  that  a  deep  cultivation  with  a  spring -tooth 
cultivator  (No.  9,  Fig.  13,  page  147)  is  usually  suffi- 
cient for  breaking  up  the  ground  in  spring  amongst 
bush -fruits,  if  the  land  is  clean  and  in  good  con- 


Study   of  Soil   and    Climate.  281 

dition.  If  the  land  is  soddy  or  infested  with  bad 
weeds,  however,  a  regular  plowing  may  be  necessary. 
A  handy  plow  for  such  plantations  is  one  of  the 
type  shown  in  Fig.  16,  page  158,  managed  by  a 
single  horse.  The  management  of  the  land  in 
small -fruit  plantations  does  not  differ  in  principle 
from  the  management  of  orchard  lands,  and  the 
tools  are  of  the  same  general  kind,  except  smaller 
and  generally  adapted  to  a  single  horse.  If  the 
rows  are  far  enough  apart,  however — as  they  usually 
are  in  blackberries  and  black  raspberries — it  may 
be  necessary  in  hard  lands  to  hitch  two  horses  to 
such  a  tool  as  the  spring -tooth  cultivator. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  repeat  that  it  is  essen- 
tial to  give  the  fruit  plantation  just  as  good  tillage 
as  the  corn  receives,  if  equally  good  results  are 
desired.  Wholly  aside  from  the  direct  benefits  of 
tillage  (which  have  already  been  explained),  the 
operation  is  necessary  in  order  to  supply  the  enor- 
mous quantities  of  moisture  which  are  exhaled  from 
the  leaves  of  the  plants.  Professor  Burrill,  of  the 
University  of  Illinois,  estimates*  that  a  good -sized 
apple  tree,  having  25,000  square  feet  of  evaporating 
surface,  which  is  not  a  large  estimate,  will  give  off 
31,200  ounces  of  water  per  day  in  the  hot  season, 
or  say  250  gallons. 

It  is  generally  a  matter  of  a  few  years  to  thor- 
oughly learn  one's  soil  and  climate,  after  moving 
onto  a  new  farm.  The  farmer  has  a  local  and  per- 

*  Trans.  111.  Hort.  Soe. 


282  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

sonal  problem  to  apprehend  and  to  solve.  He  should 
not  be  discouraged,  therefore,  if  he  does  not  secure 
the  desired  results  from  the  treatment  of  his  land 
within  the  first  two  or  three  years. 

THE  GENERAL  CARE  OF  THE  PLANTS. 

Staking  young  trees. — If  fruit  trees  are  stocky 
and  well  planted,  and  if  the  land  is  deep  and  in 
good  condition,  it  will  rarely  be  necessary  to  stake 
them.  The  staking  of  an  orchard  is  generally  an 
indication  of  poor  trees  or  poor  management  at 
some  point.  It  occasionally  happens,  however,  that 
trees  must  be  staked  to  enable  them  to  overcome 
some  accident  or  injury,  as  breaking  by  heavy 
winds,  or  ice,  or  other  means.  "When  it  is  neces- 
sary to  stake  trees,  it  is  ordinarily  preferable  to  drive 
a  stout  stake  upon  two  sides  and  then  to  bind  the 
tree  firmly  to  each  of  these  stakes,  in  order  to  keep 
it  from  whipping.  The  best  bandage  is  one  of 
burlaps  or  other  strong,  soft  cloth,  cut  in  strips  two 
or  three  inches  wide  and  firmly  tied  about  the  tree. 
Just  as  soon  as  the  tree  has  recovered  from  its 
injury  or  weakness,  the  support  should  be  removed. 
Trees  which  have  blown  over,  but  which  have  not 
been  broken  completely  off,  may  be  severely  headed- 
in  and  tied  up  in  this  manner,  often  with  the  very 
best  results.  The  wounded  and  broken  surfaces 
should  be  thoroughly  covered  with  some  antiseptic 
wash  or  paint. 

Sun-scald. — It     is     often     necessary,     especially    in 


Shading   the    Trunk. 


283 


the  hot  plains  regions,  to  shade  the  trunks  of 
young  trees  in  order  to  prevent  sun -scald.  In  the 
nursery  rows,  the  bodies  of  the  trees  are  ordinarily 
well  shaded.  There  are 
various  means  of  provid- 
ing this  shade,  but  the 
best  results  may  be  ex- 
pected to  follow  from 
some  protection  which 
simply  breaks  the  force 
of  the  sun  and  does  not 
entirely  obstruct  it ;  for 
in  the  latter  case,  the 
bark  does  not  so  read- 
ily become  inured  to 
exposure  to  sunshine. 
Finely  woven  wire  net- 
ting rolled  around  the 
tree  (in  more  than  one 
thickness,  if  necessary),  is 
said  to  afford  very  good 
protection  for  this  pur- 
pose, as  shown  in  Fig. 
43  (but  preferably  ex- 
tending higher  Up  the  Fig'43'  Tree  protected  by  a  roll  of 

trunk).     The    upper   part 

of     the     trunk    is     likely    to    be    shaded     sufficiently 

by  the    branches   of    the    tree,    although    this   is   not 

always   the   case.      These   rolls   of    wire   netting    also 

serve   a    purpose    in    keeping    away   mice    and    other 

vermin. 


284  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Hansen*  writes  as  follows  upon  this  subject  for 
Dakota  conditions:  "Sun -scald  causes  great  loss  in 
northwest  prairie  orchards.  By  sun -scald  is  meant 
the  alternate  thawing  and  freezing  of  the  stem  on 
the  southwest  side  in  late  winter,  causing  the  bark 
to  die  and  decay.  Oftentimes  the  dead,  blackened 
bark  separates  entirely  from  the  stem.  Orchardists 
now  generally  recognize  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  and 
prevent  it  by  shading  the  stem  in  some  way.  Trees 
planted  and  kept  with  stem  leaning  toward  the 
southwest  until  the  branches  shade  the  trunk,  are 
free  from  it.  Some  fruit-growers  set  a  board,  or 
two  boards  nailed  together  trough -fashion,  on  the 
southwest  side  ;  others  use  corn  stalks,  wire  netting, 
or  lath.  Low -headed  trees  are  best  for  severe  lo- 
cations ;  in  more  favorable  sections  trees  may  be 
headed  two-and-a-half  to  three  feet  high.  Tall 
trunks  suffer  more  from  sun -scald  and  severe 
winds." 

Trees  are  apt  to  suffer  with  sun -scald  after  a 
lieav}-  pruning,  especially  if  they  have  been  allowed 
to  grow  too  thick  in  the  first  place.  Cutting  out 
heavily  from  the  center  of  the  tree  exposes  the 
oblique  and  horizontal  limbs  to  the  intense  heat  of  the 
sun,  and  the  bark  is  likely  to  blister  and  be  killed, 
after  which  borers  are  very  apt  to  finish  the  work 
of  destruction.  In  all  interior  hot  regions,  there- 
fore, it  is  well  to  exercise  caution  in  the  pruning 
of  the  tops  of  trees.  It  is  better  to  keep  the  top 

*N.  E.  Hansen,  "Fruit  Culture,"  Bull.  50,  S.  Dak.  Exp.  Sta.,  1897. 


Washing   the    Trees.  285 

somewhat  thin  and  open  from  the  start,  rather  than 
to  allow  it  to  become  overgrown  and  then  to  make 
a  sudden  and  radical  correction  of  the  difficulty. 

Bark -bound  trees. — When  a  tree  has  been  allowed 
to  become  stunted  for  two  or  three  or  more  years, 
it  is  likely  to  become  hide -bound,  so  that  growth  is 
impeded,  even  though  the  care  of  the  plantation  be 
corrected.  The  bark  becomes  very  thick  and  dense 
and  tight,  and  is  likely  to  be  dull  and  lifeless  in  color 
and  sometimes  moss -cove red.  The  newer  and  fresher 
parts  of  the  tree  are  likely  to  show  a  tendency  to 
overgrow  the  lower  parts  which  are  hide -bound.  In 
all  such  cases,  the  bark  should  be  softened  so  as  to 
allow  the  trunk  to  expand.  In  general,  the  best 
means  of  loosening  up  the  bark  is  to  scrape  off  the 
outer  hard  layer,  if  it  should  become  mossy  or  en- 
tirely dead,  and  then  to  wash  the  tree  thoroughly 
with  some  soapy  compound.  This  washing  should  be 
done  with  a  broom,  or  preferably  with  a  strong  scrub- 
bing brush,  so  that  the  body  may  be  vigorously 
scrubbed.  A  wash  of  strong  soapsuds  is  very  good. 
Tar  soap,  whale-oil  soap  or  carbolic  soap  are  also 
very  useful  for  the  purpose.*  These  washes  have  the 
effect  of  softening  the  bark  and  allowing  the  tree  to 
grow  more  readily.  The  effect  of  a  good  wash  upon 
orchard  trees  is  often  exceedingly  marked.  It  is 
sometimes  thought  by  orchardists  that  the  potash  in 
these  washes  is  absorbed  through  the  bark,  and 
thereby  stimulates  the  tree.  It  is  probable  that  it 

*  The  reader  may  find  various  recipes  for  washes  in  "The  Horticulturist's 
Rule-Book." 


286  The   Principles    of  Fruit-growing, 

eventually  becomes  plant -food  by  being  washed  off 
onto  the  soil,  though  the  chief  value  of  the  wash  is 
no  doubt  the  softening  and  loosening  effect  which  it 
has  on  the  bark. 

Another  means  of  releasing  the  pressure  upon 
hide -bound  trees  is  to  slit  the  bark  the  entire  length 
of  the  trunk  or  hide -bound  portion.  This  is  done 
by  simply  thrusting  the  point  of  a  knife  through  the 
bark  until  it  strikes  the  wood,  and  then  drawing  the 
blade  down  the  entire  length  of  the  portion  to  be 
treated.  When  the  knife  is  withdrawn,  the  slit  is 
scarcely  visible  ;  but  after  a  time  the  slit  widens, 
as  the  tree  begins  to  expand.  This  method  is  to  be 
advised  only  as  an  extreme  resort,  for  it  is  better  to 
keep  the  bark  fresh  and  elastic  by  good  tillage  and 
by  the  use  of  washes  ;  but  the  slitting  is  of  no 
damage  to  the  tree,  as  a  rule.  The  washing  also  has 
the  additional  advantage  of  killing  various  insects 
and  their  eggs  which  may  be  in  or  about  the  bark. 
Spraying  with  Bordeaux  mixture  will  kill  the  lichen 
or  "moss"  on  the  trunks. 

Scraping  trees. — The  outer  layers  of  bark  of  any 
tree  gradually  die  and  peel  off,  as  the  tissue  grows 
upon  the  inside.  This  old,  rough  bark  is  of  no 
direct  use  to  the  plant,  but  it  probably  affords  some 
protection  to  the  tender  tissues  within.  It  also  af- 
fords a  lodgment  for  insects  and  fungi.  Trees  which 
are  kept  in  a  good  condition  of  growth  and  which 
are  watched  carefully,  will  need  very  little  attention 
in  the  removing  of  the  bark,  but  if  the  shaggy  bark 
accumulates  to  any  great  extent,  it  is  well  to  scrape 


Scraping   Trees.  287 

it  off.  The  operation  should  be  done  when  the  warm 
weather  approaches  in  spring,  or,  in  fact,  at  almost 
any  time  in  the  growing  season.  A  good  tool  for 
this  purpose  is  an  old  and  thin  hoe,  the  handle  of 
which  is  cut  down  to  about  two  feet  in  length. 
This  tool  is  grasped  lightly  in  the  hand  and  is 
raked  up  and  down  the  tree,  and  it  removes  the 
rough  bark  with  ease.  The  very  best  tool  for  the 
purpose,  however,  is  that  shown  in  Fig.  44,  which  is  a 
steel  plate  with  sharp, 
ground  edges,  fas- 
tened securely  to  a 
bent  shank.  This 
tool  can  be  had  of 
hardware  dealers,  to  Fig  M  Scraper  for  eleaning  and 

Whom      it      is      known  repairing  trees. 

as     a    box -scraper. 

Aside  from  removing  the  loose  bark  from  the 
trunks  of  trees,  this  tool  is  very  useful  in  cutting 
out  and  removing  all  diseased  spots  upon  the  bodies 
or  in  the  crotches.  The  wounds  resulting  from  the 
barking  of  trees  may  be  trimmed  down  to  fresh 
tissue  by  such  a  tool,  and  all  spots  injured  by 
bark  borers,  spots  of  pear -blight,  patches  of  canker, 
and  the  like,  may  be  cut  away,  and  the  wounded 
surfaces  are  thereafter  covered  with  Bordeaux  mix- 
ture or  paint.  In  the  scraping  of  trees,  it  is  al- 
ways advisable  to  take  away  every  particle  of 
wounded  and  diseased  tissue,  unless  it  extends  deep 
into  the  wood.  When  the  object  is  to  simply  take 
away  the  rough  and  loose  bark,  the  tree  should  not 


288 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


be  scraped  down  to  the  quick  ; 
that  is,  only  the  loose  ex- 
terior portion  should  be  re 
moved. 

Girdled    trees,     and    gird- 
ling.— Trees  which  are  girdled 
should  have  the  injured  parts 
pared  down  to  live  tissue  and 
the      wounded     surface     then 
covered     with     an     antiseptic 
dressing.     It  is  also  advis- 
able to  bind  up  the   girdle 
with     some   material      like 
grafting -wax,    which    will 
keep  the  wood    moist   and 
thereby   allow    the    ascent 
of    the   sap  ;    for    the  sap 
rises    in   the   tree   through 
the    young,  soft   wood,  and   not 
itween  the  wood  and  the  bark. 
The    bark    is   formed    over    the 
wound   by  the  sap  which   is  re- 
distributed through  the  tree  after 
it    has    been    elaborated   in    the 
leaves ;     that   is,    the   reparative 
tissue   is    formed    by   elaborated 
sap   which  is   on   its    downward 
course.      If    the    woody     tissue 
is  kept   soft  and  fresh,  the  tree 
FiK.  45.  A  young  trunk  eirdied     may  continue  to  live   for   years, 
by  a  label  wire.  but    there  will   be   a  deposition 


Repairing    Girdled    Trees.  289 

of  woody  matter  above  the  girdle,  whilst  the  por- 
tion below  will  not  increase  in  diameter.  This 
is  well  known  to  all  observing  fruit-growers. 
Fig.  45  shows  a  deposit  of  woody  matter  above  a 
girdle  caused  by  a  label  wire.  After  awhile  the 
younger  wood  is  apt  to  become  hard  and  dry,  pre- 
venting the  upward  passage  of  nourishment  taken  in 
by  the  roots,  and  the  tree  then  starves  to  death  ;  or, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  young  tree  shown  in  Fig.  45, 
the  top  may  become  so  heavy  that  the  plant  breaks 
off  at  the  point  of  constriction.  It  is,  therefore, 
evident  that  it  is  very  necessary  that  the  orchardist 
give  careful  attention  to  his  label  wires,  to  prevent 
them  from  doing  great  injury.  It  is  always  best 
to  take  the  labels  from  young  trees  when  they  are 
set,  and  to  depend  upon  a  map  record  for  the  names 
of  the  varieties.  Or,  if  the  label  is  left  upon  the 
tree,  it  is  best  to  hang  it  upon  one  of  the  minor 
limbs,  rather  than  upon  the  trunk.  In  adjusting  the 
label  wire  to  the  tree,  it  is  important  that  only  the 
ends  of  the  wire  be  twisted  together,  allowing  thereby 
a  large  loop  in  which  the  limb  may  expand.  The 
label  may  be  held  tightly  to  the  limb  by  simply 
pinching  the  wires  together  with  the  fingers. 

Trees  which  are  freshly  girdled  in  the  growing 
time  of  spring  may  be  expected  to  heal  over  before 
the  season  is  over,  if  the  girdled  zone  is  not  more 
than  four  or  five  inches  wide,  and  if  the  surface 
of  the  wood,  as  already  explained,  is  kept  perfectly 
fresh.  It  is  generally  best,  however,  if  no  connec- 
tion of  bark  remains,  to  bridge  over  the  girdle  by 


290  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

cions.  These  cions  are  of  the  same  kind  as  those 
which  are  used  for  ordinary  grafting.  The  edges 
of  the  girdle  are  pared  down  to  fresh  wood,  and 
the  cions  are  cut  two  or  three  inches  longer  than 
the  width  of  the  girdle.  They  are  whittled  to  a 
wedge  shape  upon  either  end,  and  these  ends  are 
inserted  between  the  bark  and  the  wood  upon  the 
upper  and  lower  sides  of  the  girdle.  They  should 
be  so  numorous  as  to  almost  touch  each  other  en- 
tirely around  the  tree.  After  they  are  inserted,  a 
strip  of  cloth  should  be  bound  tightly  upon  the 
bark  over  their  ends,  and  the  whole  girdle  should 
then  be  waxed  over.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  pour 
melted  wax  over  the  work,  allowing  it  to  run  in 
between  the  cions  and  cover  the  edges  of  the  bark 
and  the  exposed  surface  of  wood. 

The  congestion  of  the  parts  of  the  plant  im- 
mediately above  the  girdle  shows  that  those  parts 
are  overfed ;  that  is,  they  receive  nutriment  at  the 
expense  of  the  portions  below  the  girdle.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  that  girdling  might  be  made  to  in- 
crease the  size  and  hasten  the  maturity  of  fruit 
which  is  borne  beyond  the  girdle ;  and  such  is 
known  to  be  the  case.  The  girdling  of  grapes  is 
a  common  practice  in  some  regions.  The  girdled 
portions  are  entirely  removed  in  the  next  annual 
pruning,  and  enough  of  the  growing  portion  is  left 
below  the  girdle  to  maintain  the  roots  and  trunk. 
It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  liability  of  in- 
jury to  the  vine  is  all  a  question  of  how  much  is 
left  below  the  girdle  and  how  much  above  it. 


Girdling   of  Trees.  291 

Careful  vineyardists  are  able  to  continue  the  prac- 
tice year  after  year  without  apparent  injury  to  the 
vine.  The  girdling  is  done  when  the  grapes  are 
about  the  size  of  peas,  and  a  section  of  bark  about 
an  inch  wide  is  entirely  removed  from  the  cane.  A 
gain  in  earliness  of  a  week  to  ten  days  may  be 
secured  by  the  process,  but  it  is  commonly  believed 
that  the  quality  of  the  better  grapes  is  injured.  As 
a  matter  of  practice,  only  the  very  earliest  varieties 
of  grapes  are  girdled  or  ringed  for  commercial  pur- 
poses ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  the  practice  is  to  be 
commended. 

Apples  and  other  fruit  trees  are  sometimes  ringed 
to  set  them  into  bearing.  "Many  orchards  develop 
a  habit  of  redundant  wood -bearing,  and  these  are 
often  thrown  into  fruiting  by  some  check  to  the 
trees,  as  seeding  down,  girdling,  and  the  like. 
Probably  every  orchardist  has  observed  that  the  at- 
tacks of  borers  sometimes  cause  trees  to  bear.  It 
is  an  old  maxim  that  checking  growth  induces  fruit- 
fulness.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  fact  that 
driving  nails  into  plum  and  peach  trees  sometimes 
sets  the  trees  to  bearing,  and  also  of  the  similar  in- 
fluence exerted  by  a  label  wire  which  has  cut  into  the 
bark,  or  of  a  partial  break  in  a  branch.  Girdling  or 
ringing  to  set  trees  into  bearing  is  an  old  and  well- 
known  practice.  It  is  not  to  be  advised  as  a  general 
resort,  but  I  should  not  hesitate  to  employ  it  upon 
one  or  two  of  the  minor  branches  of  an  unprofitable 
tree  for  the  purpose  of  determining  if  the  tree  needs 
a  check.  I  saw  a  Baldwin  tree  this  year  in  which 


292  The    Principles   of  Fruit  -growing. 

two  large  limbs  had  been  girdled  last  year,  and  these 
limbs  were  bending  with  frnit  whilst  the  remaining 
branches  and  the  adjacent  trees  were  barren.  Gir- 
dling may  generally  be  done  with  safety  in  spring, 
when  the  leaves  are  putting  out.  A  ring  of  bark  two 
or  three  inches  wide  may  be  removed  clear  to  the 
wood,  and  entirely  encircling  the  limb.  I  have  heard 
of  excellent  results  following  the  simple  ringing  of 
trees,  which  consists  in  severing  the  bark — but  remov- 
ing none  of  it — completely  around  the  tree  with  a 
sharp  knife,  in  spring.  These  are,  of  course,  only 
incidental  operations,  to  be  employed  with  caution, 
and  then  only  upon  branches  of  less  importance. 
Their  value  is  wholly  one  of  experiment,  to  aid  the 
owner  in  determining  what  fundamental  treatment  the 
orchard  probably  needs."* 

Pruning  and  heading -in.  — The  subject  of  pruning 
cannot  be  understood  until  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  practice  are  clearly  apprehended.  It  is,  there- 
fore, well-nigh  useless  to  state  any  general  rules  or 
precepts  for  the  pruning  of  trees  in  a  work  like  the 
present.  It  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  a  heavy 
pruning  upsets  the  habit  of  the  tree,  and  generally 
sets  it  into  the  heavy  production  of  wood  for  a  time. 
The  only  proper  pruning  is  one  which  is  applied  in 
something  like  the  same  proportion  every  year,  and 
which  begins  the  very  year  in  which  the  plants  are 
put  into  the  ground.  Trees  which  are  alternately 
neglected  and  heavily  pruned  are  kept  in  a  condition 

'Bull.  102,  Cornell  Exp.   Sta.,  519  (Oct.,  1895).    A  fuller  discussion  of  ring- 
ing may  be  found  in  "The  Pruning-Book." 


Heading  in   Fruit    Trees.  293 

of  unrest  which  is  apt  to  be  fatal  to  the  best  produc- 
tiveness. 

The  question  of  heading -in  of  trees  is  one  which 
is  commonly  misunderstood,  and  upon  which  there  is 
the  greatest  demand  for  information.  It  is  impossible 
to  give  any  dogmatic  statements  as  to  whether  the 
operation  shall  be  practiced  or  not.  There  are  two 
or  three  considerations  which  the  grower  should 
chiefly  bear  in  mind,  which  may  help  him  to  think 
out  the  problem  for  himself.  In  the  first  place,  it  is 
largely  a  question  of  the  type  of  training  which  the 
grower  prefers  :  that  is,  every  good  fruit-grower  will 
set  before  himself  a  certain  ideal  type  or  form  of 
tree,  and  he  will  bend  all  his  energies  uniformly  and 
consecutively  to  the  working  out  of  this  idea  through- 
out all  the  years  of  the  plantation.  If  his  ideal  is 
for  trees  which  shall  have  round  and  dense  heads, 
then  he  will,  of  course,  head-in  the  stock  from  year 
to  year ;  if,  however,  he  sets  for  himself  the  ideal 
of  a  tree  with  the  natural  form  and  open  head,  he 
will  not  head -in,  as  a  rule.  Whichever  purpose  the 
grower  sets  in  his  mind  should  be  worked  out  sys- 
tematically and  logically  from  first  to  last.  The 
other  factor  which  chiefly  determines  the  question  of 
heading -in  is  that  of  redundant  growth  whilst  the 
plants  are  young.  As  a  rule,  young  trees  grow 
more  thrifty  and  upright  than  old  ones  do,  and  the 
grower  should,  therefore,  not  be  misled  into  thinking 
that  his  trees  will  keep  up  their  present  pace  after 
they  have  come  into  maturity  and  bearing.  Kieffer 
pears,  for  example,  make  a  very  tall  and  narrow 


294  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

growth  for  the  first  two  or  three  years,  but  when 
the  bearing  time  arrives,  this  enormous  growth  is 
cheeked  and  the  tree  spreads.  However,  in  such 
cases,  it  may  be  advisable  to  head -in  the  tree  for  a 
time,  or  until  the  period  of  maturity  begins  to  ar- 
rive. It  should  always  be  borne  in  mind,  however, 
that  this  heading- in  is  not  the  fundamental  corrective 
of  the  difficulty  ;  in  fact,  it  rather  augments  it.  It 
is  a  question,  therefore,  if  it  is  not  better  to  pre- 
vent redundant  growth  by  withholding  tillage  and 
fertilizers,  rather  than  to  produce  it  and  then  to 
take  it  off. 

Winter  preparations. — In  winter,  plants  are  exposed 
to  injuries  of  wind,  snow,  water,  ice,  mice,  rabbits, 
and  the  like.  Before  the  season  closes,  the  farmer 
should  see  that  young  trees  stand  stiff  and  straight, 
and  in  order  to  keep  them  rigid  and  to  afford  good 
surface  drainage,  it  is  sometimes  well  (especially  with 
newly  set  trees  in  cold  climates)  to  bank  up  the 
trees  with  earth  to  the  height  of  six  or  eight  inches. 
In  making  the  bank,  the  workman  should  be  cau- 
tioned not  to  leave  holes,  from  which  the  earth  is 
taken,  close  about  the  tree,  for  the  water  is  likely  to 
stand  in  them,  and  it  may  do  harm.  In  small -fruits, 
grapes  and  nursery  stock,  it  is  often  advisable  to 
plow  a  furrow  to  the  plants,  upon  either  side,  in  the 
fall.  Care  should  be  taken  to  provide  for  top  drain- 
age if  the  conformation  of  the  land  is  such  as  to 
hold  surface  water. 

A  word  should  be  said  respecting  the  protection 
of  trees  from  mice  and  other  vermin.  Mice  and  rab- 


Injuries  from   Rabbits   and   Mice.  295 

bits  injure  trees  chiefly  in  cold  winters,  when  the 
amount  of  green  food  is  scarce.  They  are  apt  to  be 
especially  bad  in  new  countries.  The  best  preventive 
of  injuries  from  mice  is  to  see  that  there  is  no  mate- 
rial, as  dead  grass  or  weeds,  close  to  the  base  of  the 
tree,  in  which  the  rodents  can  nest.  If  the  litter  is 
not  taken  away,  it  should  at  least  be  tramped  down 
tightly  before  winter  sets  in.  The  best  preventive  of 
injury  by  rabbits  is  not  to  have  the  rabbits.  If  the 
brush  piles  and  old  fence -rows,  in  which  the  animals 
harbor,  are  cleaned  away,  there  will  commonly  be 
little  trouble  ;  and,  at  all  events,  a  smart  boy  who  is 
fond  of  hunting  will  ordinarily  solve  the  question 
without  help.*  fc 

If  mice  are  very  serious,  it  may  be  advisable  to 
put  cylinders  of  wire  netting  about  the  trees,  as  al- 
ready recommended.  Rolls  of  birch  bark  are  some- 
times used  in  regions  where  the  paper -birch  grows. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  such  cov- 
ers for  the  bodies  of  trees  interfere  with  clean  culture 
about  the  base  of  the  tree,  and  they  are  apt  to  afford 
a  most  excellent  place  for  the  lodgment  of  borers  and 
other  insects.  The  common  notion  that  wire  screens, 
and  tarred  paper,  and  mounds  of  ashes,  and  the  like, 
prevent  borers  from  working,  is  unfounded,  and  is, 
in  fact,  likely  to  be  the  very  opposite  of  the  truth; 
for  a  wire  screen,  which  soon  fills  with  grass  and 
litter,  is  a  most  inviting  place  for  the  congregation 
of  insect  life. 

*Various  washes   and  other  devices  for  preventing  the  injuries    by  mice, 
rabbits  and  gophers  may  be  found  in  "The  Horticulturist's  Rule-Book." 


296  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Depredations  of  stock  and  birds. — Injuries  of  trees 
can  be  prevented  in  sheep  pastures  and  hog  pastures 
by  giving  the  animals  plenty  to  eat  and  especially 
plenty  to  drink.  They  are  very  likely  to  gnaw  the 
trees  for  the  moisture  which  they  secure.  If,  how- 
ever, the  animals  begin  to  injure  the  trees,  the  only 
recourse  is  either  to  take  them  out  or  build  wide 
racks  about  the  trunks ;  but  any  sort  of  rack  or 
fence  about  the  tree  prevents  the  proper  care  of  the 
tree. 

The  incursions  of  birds  upon  cherries  and  small- 
fruits  can  usually  be  prevented  by  planting  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  that  the  birds  may  get  their  fill  with- 
out ^ruining  the  plantation.  Cherry  orchards  may 
sometimes  be  protected  by  planting  a  number  of  trees 
of  very  early  sweet  cherries  around  the  outside  of  the 
plantation.  These  will  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  the 
birds.  In  some  cases,  however,  it  is  impossible  to 
save  the  fruit  unless  fire-arms  are  used;  but  it  is 
usually  sufficient  to  fire  blank  cartridges  a  few  times 
to  scare  the  birds  away,  and  thereby  obviate  the 
necessity  of  killing  them. 

Small  trees  and  garden  plats  of  small  fruits  may 
also  be  protected  from  birds  by  means  of  netting 
which  is  now  manufactured  in  this  country  for  that 
purpose.  Troop  reports*  as  follows  upon  an  experi- 
ment in  this  direction  : 

"The  past  season  we  had  several  varieties  of  the 
Russian  cherries  which  were  fruiting  for  the  first 
time,  and  wishing  to  test  the  practicability  of  cov- 

Mames  Troop,  Bull.  53,  Indiana  Exp.   Sta.   125   (1894). 


Protection  from   Birds. 


297 


ering  trees  as  a  protection  from  birds,  we  procured 
from  the  American  Net  and  Twine  Co.,  of  Boston, 
Mass.,  several  hundred  square  yards  of  bird  netting, 
and  a  part  of  the  trees  were  covered  with  this  just 
before  the  fruit  began  to  ripen. 

"Three  trees  of  the  Bessarabian  variety  were 
standing  together  in  the  same  row,  all  well  loaded 
with  early  fruit.  Two  of  these  were  covered  with  the 
netting  and  the  third  left  exposed.  When  the  fruit 
on  the  covered  trees  was  ready  to  pick,  the  exposed 
tree  was  completely  stripped  of  every  cherry,  thus 
showing  what  the  result  would  have  been  to  the 
others  had  they  not  been  protected.  The  question 
has  often  been  asked :  Will  it  pay  ? 

"As  already  stated,  the  trees  were  young,  having 
been  set  but  six  years.  Each  tree  bore  a  half  bushel 
or  more  of  fine  fruit  this  year,  which  sold  for  eight 
to  ten  cents  per  quart.  The  trees  were  of  the  round- 
headed  type,  about  ten  feet  high,  so  that  the  labor 
involved  in  covering  was  comparatively  slight.  The 
amount  of  netting  required  for  each  tree  was  about 
seventy -five  square  yards,  which  cost  four  cents  per 
square  yard.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  fruit  from 
these  early  trees  was  gathered,  the  netting  was  trans- 
ferred to  later  varieties,  and  the  same  process  re- 
peated. So  that  when  the  experiment  was  completed 
the  account  stood  as  follows  : 


To  75  yds.  netting  at  4  cents.  .$3.00 


93.06 


By  16  qts.  of  cherries  at!0cts..$1.60 
"  18    "     "        "      "8    "   .  1.44 

$3.04 


298  The    Principles    of  Fruit -grwving, 

''It  will  be  seen  that  in  this  experiment  the  ac- 
counts nearly  balanced  at  the  end  or  the  first  year. 
With  careful  handling  this  netting  will  last  ten  years 
or  more ;  so  that  the  question— will  it  pay  to  use- 
it? — will  depend  largely  upon  circumstances.  Judg- 
ing from  our  own  experience  the  past  season,  where, 
in  testing  varieties  of  fruits,  it  becomes  absolutely 
necessary  that  the  fruit  should  remain  on  the  tree 
until  fully  ripe,  there  seems  to  be  no  question  about 
the  expediency  of  covering  the  trees." 

Top-grafting  bearing  trees* — One  of  the  important 
factors  in  the  secondary  care  of  an  apple  orchard 
is  the  grafting  over  of  old  trees  or  of  worthless 
varieties.  It  is  often  asked  if  it  will  pay  to  graft 
trees  after  they  are  fifteen  or  twenty  years  old. 
The  answer  depends  entirely  upon  how  profitable  the 
trees  are  in  their  present  condition.  If  they  are 
bringing  in  no  return,  then  nothing  can  be  lost  if 
they  are  grafted ;  and  if  the  trees  are  strong  and 
healthy,  there  is  no  reason  why  much  should  not  be 
gained.  If  the  operation  of  top -grafting  is  properly 
done,  the  trees  ought  to  be  completely  changed  over 
to  a  new  variety  in  three  or  four  years.  It  should 
be  said,  however,  that  the  careful  fruit-grower  will 
find  out  whether  his  trees  are  to  be  profitable  or 
not  long  before  they  reach  the  age  of  fifteen  years. 
Trees  which  have  arrived  at  that  age  before  the 
owner  has  found  out  whether  they  are  useful  or 
not,  are  those  which  advertise  an  indifference  or 

*  For  advice  respecting  the  top-working  of  young  trees,  see  pages  234,  235. 


The    Thinning   of  Fruit.  299 

neglect  of  the  owner.  Even  with  apple  trees,  the 
orchardist  should  be  able  to  tell  within  ten  or 
twelve  years  after  they  are  set  whether  the  trees  are 
likely  to  be  profitable  or  not,  and  if  there  are 
strong  indications  that  the  varieties  are  unsuited  to 
his  needs  the  sooner  they  are  grafted  over  the 
better.  In  grafting  over  the  top  of  an  old  apple 
tree,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  at  the 
best  a  harsh  operation,  and  that  the  top  should  be 
replaced  as  quickly  as  possible.  In  other  words,  the 
effort  should  be  made  to  graft  only  limbs  of  com- 
paratively small  size  (say  not  more  than  an  inch 
and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  preferably  less),  and  to 
set  very  many  cions,  even  if  some  of  them  need  to 
be  cut  out  after  two  or  three  years.  The  setting 
of  so  many  cions  is  somewhat  expensive,  but  the 
orchardist  should  be  able  to  do  the  work  himself. 
Finally,  it  should  not  be  expected  that  an  old  tree 
which  is  remodeled  by  top -grafting  shall  be  of  as 
good  and  handy  shape  as  one  which  has  been  grown 
right  from  the  start.  (See  Figs.  127,  128,  129, 
"The  Nursery -Book,"  third  ed.) 

Thinning  the  fruit. — The  thinning  of  fruit  for  the 
purpose  of  improving  that  which  remains  is  a  prac- 
tice which  is  always  advised,  but  comparatively  sel- 
dom followed.  It  has  been  demonstrated  time  and 
time  again  that  no  work  in  connection  with  a  fruit 
plantation  pays  better  than  this  thinning.  It  not 
only  results  in  a  much  finer  product,  but  it  is  also 
a  means  of  destroying  the  insect -infested  and  dis- 
eased specimens,  and  of  saving  the  energies  and  vi- 


300  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

tality  of  the  tree.  Persons  complain  that  the  thin- 
ning of  fruit  is  expensive  and  laborious,  and  this  is 
true ;  but  it  is  a  fair  question  if  there  is  anything 
worth  the  having  of  which  the  same  may  not  be 
said.  If  the  operation  pays,  then  there  is  no  excuse 
for  not  performing  it.  It  should  be  considered,  also, 
that  the  fruit  must  all  be  picked  sooner  or  later,  and 
it  really  does  not  cost  very  much  more  to  pick  it 
early  in  the  season  than  to  pick  it  late ;  in  fact, 
much  fruit  which  is  not  worth  picking  in  the  fall 
might  have  been  eminently  worth  the  labor  if  the 
trees  had  been  thinned  in  the  early  summer. 

There  are  two  general  methods  of  thinning  fruits: 
One  is  a  matter  of  pruning,  by  means  of  which  the 
superfluous  branches,  or  even  the  fruit -spurs  them- 
selves, are  removed  ;  the  other  is  the  direct  picking 
of  the  redundant  fruits.  There  is  no  reason  in  the 
nature  of  things  why  trees  should  not  bear  every 
year;  but  the  formation  of  the  fruit -spur  is  usually 
such  as  to  preclude  the  production  of  fruit  upon  the 
same  spur  every  year.  The  philosophy  of  the  thin- 
ning of  fruit,  therefore,  is  that  one  spur  shall  beat- 
one  year,  and  another  spur  the  next.  This  means 
that  when  fruit  is  thinned,  it  should  be  the  object 
to  remove  it  wholly  from  some  spurs  in  order  that 
they  may  produce  fruit -buds  for  the  following  year. 
In  those  regions  where  certain  fruits  are  systemati- 
cally thinned;  the  crop  is  obtained  with  great  uni- 
formity every  year.  This  is  especially  true  of  peaches 
along  the  Michigan  lake  shore,  and  in  other  places 
where  this  important  fruit  is  well  cared  for.  There 


Experiment  in    Thinning   Apples.  301 

is  no  reason  why  the  same  should  not  be  said  of 
other  kinds  of  fruits,  and  for  every  fruit  region. 

There  have  been  no  long -continued  and  system- 
atic experiments  upon  the  thinning  of  fruits  in  this 
country.  One  of  the  best  investigations  which  has 
yet  been  undertaken  was  in  connection  with  the 
State  Experiment  Station  at  Geneva,  New  York, 
under  the  direction  of  S.  A.  Beach  in  1896.  These 
experiments  were  made  upon  full-grown  apple  trees, 
and  the  following  extract*  details  the  methods  and 
the  results  : 

"Trees  of  the  same  variety,  as  nearly  alike  in 
all  respects  as  could  be  found,  were  paired  for  com- 
parison, one  of  each  pair  being  thinned,  the  other 
left  unthinned.  Three  ways  of  thinning  were  tried : 

"First.— All  wormy,  knotty,  or  otherwise  inferior 
fruit  was  removed,  and  all  clusters  thinned  to  one 
fruit. 

"Second.— Same  as  first,  and  remaining  fruit 
thinned  so  that  the  apples  were  not  less  than  four 
inches  apart. 

"Third. — Same  as  first,  and  the  remaining  fruit 
thinned  so  that  the  apples  were  not  less  than  six 
inches  apart. 

"The  sixteen  trees  which  are  included  in  the 
experiment  belong  to  three  varieties,  namely  :  Rhode 
Island  Greening,  Baldwin,  and  Hubbardston.  The 
Baldwins  were  most  heavily  loaded  last  season,  and 
gave  the  most  marked  results  in  favor  of  thinning. 

"With    the    first    method    Baldwin,   thinned,  gave 

*Proc.  W.  New  York  Hort.  Soc.,  1897,  p.  75. 


302  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

16  per  cent  less  fruit,  but  about  10  per  cent  more 
No.  1  fruit  than  did  the  unthinned  Baldwin.  With 
the  second  method  Baldwin,  thinned,  gave  26  per 
cent  less  fruit  and  about  22  per  cent  more  No.  1 
fruit  than  did  the  corresponding  trees  which  were 
not  thinned. 

"With  the  third  method,  Hubbardston  gave  25 
per  cent  less  fruit,  but  about  17  per  cent  more 
No.  1  fruit  than  did  the  mi  thinned  Hubbardston. 

"The  Greenings  were  very  heavity  loaded  in 
1895,  and  in  1896  they  bore  a  good  crop,  but  were 
not  overburdened,  and  needed  comparatively  little  thin- 
ning. They  were  thinned  according  to  the  second 
method,  and  gave  6  per  cent  more  fruit  and  about 
10  per  cent  more  first-class  fruit  than  the  trees  did 
which  were  not  thinned. 

"In  all  these  tests  the  picked  fruit  gave  about 
one  bushel  of  culls  where  the  fruit  was  thinned,  to 
three  bushels  where  it  was  not  thinned.  Where  the 
fruit  was  thinned  the  "drops"  were  fewer  and  con- 
siderably better,  and  in  all  grades  the  fruit  was 
clearly  superior  in  size  and  color  to  fruit  of  the  same 
grade  which  was  not  thinned.  The  first  grade  in- 
cluded no  apples  less  than  two  and  one -half  inches  in 
diameter,  and  the  proportion  which  measured  two  and 
one -half  inches  was  a  great  deal  larger  where  the 
fruit  was  thinned  than  where  it  was  not,  so  that  No. 
2  apples  from  trees  which  were  thinned  were  much 
superior  to  the  No.  2  fruit  from  trees  not  thinned. 
Mr.  Wilson  [in  whose  orchard  the  tests  were  made] 
estimates  that  the  fruit  from  the  trees  which  were 


Thinning   Small -fruits .  303 

thinned  would  generally  bring  10  per  cent  to  15 
per  cent  more  in  market  than  the  same  grade  from 
trees  which  were  not  thinned.  According  to  these 
results,  the  second  method  of  thinning  is  enough 
superior  to  the  first  to  more  than  pay  for  the  extra 
work  involved.  The  second  and  third  methods  can- 
not well  be  compared  from  the  data  now  at  hand." 

Maynard  reports*  experiments  in  thinning  apples 
and  plums,  from  which  there  were  marked  gains. 
To  thin  "full -sized"  apple  trees  cost  from  35  to  48 
cents.  In  plums,  "a  distinct  advantage  gained  by 
thinning  is  the  appreciable  decrease  in  the  ravages 
of  fungous  diseases,  and  to  a  small  extent,  of  insect 
pests.  This  is  especially  noticeable  in  the  case  of 
monilia,  or  brown  fruit-rot,  which  often  ruins  the 
peach  or  plum  crop  in  wet  seasons,  while  the  speci- 
mens of  fruit  attacked  by  the  curculio  were  largely 
removed  in  thinning." 

Tests  have  been  made  in  a  small  way  in  the 
thinning  of  small  fruits  by  clipping  off  the  ends  of 
the  clusters.  Halsted  reportst  as  follows  upon  such 
a  test:  "Some  experiments  were  made  here  [New 
Jersey  Experiment  Station]  last  year  with  currants, 
by  removing  the  lower  half  of  the  flower  clusters 
with  a  pair  of  scissors.  It  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  only  a  few  of  the  berries  of  any  cluster  usually 
mature,  and  the  free  end  of  the  stem  becomes  dead 
before  the  fruit  is  ripe.  By  the  removal  of  this 

*Bull.  44,  Mass.  Hatch  Exp.  Sta.  (1897). 

t  Garden  and  Forest,  iii.  19  (Jan.  8,  1890) ;  also,  Rept.  N.  J.  Exp.  Sta.,  1889, 
231. 


304  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

portion  before  the  flowers  upon  it  have  opened,  it 
was  hoped  that  there  might  be  a  larger  and  better 
fruit  produced  upon  the  remaining  portion  of  the 
cluster. 

"In  the  experiment,  alternate  bushes  in  a  row 
were  treated  with  the  scissors,  and  in  passing  it 
may  be  said  that  this  method  of  thinning  can  be 
done  rapidly.  When  the  fruit  was  ripe,  the  whole 
product  from  an  average  bush,  of  the  clipped  and 
of  the  undipped  plants,  was  picked  and  spread  out 
upon  tables.  Judges  ignorant  of  what  had  been  done 
were  then  called  in  to  inspect  the  results.  No  one 
failed  to  notice  at  once  the  difference,  and  all  pro- 
nounced in  favor  of  the  fruit  that  had  been  treated, 
The  berries  were  larger  and  of  more  nearly  uniform 
size  and  ripeness.  Two  hundred  berries  were  next 
removed  from  the  uncut  clusters,  and  it  required 
thirty -five  clusters  to  furnish  this  number.  They 
weighed,  clear  of  all  stems,  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  grams.  The  same  number,  furnished  by  thirty 
clipped  clusters,  weighed  one  hundred  and  sixty -three 
grams.  These  results  show  that  there  were  about 
15  per  cent  more  berries  to  the  cluster  upon  the 
cut  plants  than  upon  the  ordinary  ones,  and  that 
these  berries  were  about  7  per  cent  heavier.  The 
question  of  quality  was  only  determined  by  tasting, 
but  there  was  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  judges 
that  the  thinned  clusters  bore  fruit  of  the  finest 
flavor.  Like  all  other  fruit,  currants  sell  somewhat 
upon  their  appearance,  and  there  is  no  mistake  that 
from  the  uniform  size  and  ripeness  of  the  fruit  and 


Thinning   Small -fruits.  305 

the  absence  of  dead  tips  on  the  stems,  the  clipped 
clusters  were  much  the  more  attractive." 

Experiments  made  at  the  Cornell  Station*  with 
raspberries  and  blackberries  failed,  however,  to  give 
such  specific  results:  "  To  test  the  feasibility  of 
thinning  berries,  rows  of  Cuthbert  raspberry  and 
Early  Cluster  blackberry  were  thinned  by  clipping 
off  the  tips  of  most  of  the  clusters,  and  also  by 
reducing  the  number  of  clusters,  especially  in  the 
•raspberry.  The  result  was  not  encouraging,  for  the 
eye  could  detect  no  increase  of  size  in  the  berries 
on  thinned  plants,  and  as  the  principal  object  was 
to  increase  the  size  and  attractiveness  of  the  fruit, 
it  seems  to  have  failed  of  its  purpose.  It  should 
be  said,  however,  that  the  season  was  favorable  for 
berries,  and  the  crop  was  very  fine.  In  a  very  dry 
season,  or  with  varieties  much  inclined  to  overbear, 
the  result  might  be  different.  In  general,  however, 
the  thinning  can  be  managed  well  enough  and  much 
more  cheaply  by  regulating  the  amount  of  bearing 
wood  at  the  annual  spring  pruning." 

The  thinning  of  tree  fruits  is  done  in  essentially 
the  same  way  in  which  the  fruits  are  picked;  that  is, 
the  fruits  are  picked  off  by  hand,  and  are  then 
dropped  onto  the  ground,  where  they  may  either  be 
allowed  to  lie,  or,  if  they  are  infested  with  insects 
or  disease,  may  be  raked  up  and  burned.  It  is 
customary  to  thin  the  fruits  as  soon  as  the  dangers 
of  spring  frosts  and  other  early  accidents  are  past, 

*Fred  W.  Card,  Bull.  57,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.  (1893). 
U 


306  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

but  before  they  have  become  of  sufficient  size  to  be 
a  tax  upon  the  tree.  Peaches  are  generally  thinned 
when  they  are  about  the  size  of  a  small  hickory  nut 
(that  is,  about  the  size  of  the  end  of  one's  thumb), 
and  apples  are  thinned  from  that  size  until  they  are 
twice  or  sometimes  even  thrice  as  large.  Various 
devices  have  been  suggested  for  the  thinning  of  fruit, 
but  they  are  all  impracticable,  because  they  do  not 
discriminate  between  good  and  poor  fruit,  because 
they  do  not  leave  the  fruit  well  distributed  over  the 
branches,  and  because  they  are  very  likely  to  break 
off  the  spurs.  Some  of  the  implements  figured  in 
Chapter  VIII.  may  be  used  in  special  cases.  It 
really  requires  more  discrimination  and  judgment  to 
thin  fruit  properly  than  it  does  to  pick  it.  In  the 
thinning  of  peaches  it  is  a  good  rule  to  allow  none 
of  the  fruits  to  hang  closer  than  four  or  six  inches 
of  each  other.  This  means  that  in  years  of  very 
heavy  setting,  fully  two -thirds  of  all  the  fruits  are 
to  be  picked  off  in  June.  In  many  parts  of  the 
country  this  thinning  is  systematically  done,  and  it 
has  in  all  such  cases  come  to  be  regarded  as  an 
indispensable  element  in  successful  fruit-growing.  No 
reliable  estimates  of  the  cost  of  thinning  fruit  can  be 
given,  because  so  much  depends  upon  the  form  and 
pruning  of  the  tree  and  the  amount  of  fruit  to  be 
removed.  The  result  is  also  greatly  influenced  by  the 
character  of  the  workmen  and  the  price  paid  for  labor. 
Full  grown  peach  trees  may  be  thinned  for  15  to  50 
cents  each.  Apple  trees  twenty -five  and  thirty  years 
old  have  been  well  thinned  for  30  to  80  cents  each. 


Maps  for   Fruit -grounds.  307 

MAPS    AND    RECORDS. 

One  of  the  most  annoying  parts  of  fruit-growing 
is  keeping  track  of  the  various  varieties  which  in- 
evitably accumulate  in  plantations  to  which  the  owner 
gives  much  loving  thought.  The  best  means  is  a 
systematic  plat,  map  or  diagram  of  the  plantation, 
in  which  every  tree  or  every  row  of  small -fruits  is 
given  a  number.  It  is  well  to  designate  the  rows 
in  orchards  by  letters,  and  then  to  number  each  tree 
in  the  row,  beginning  with  number  one ;  or,  some 
prefer  to  number  all  the  trees  in  the  plantation  con- 
secutively. It  is  an  ideal  plan  for  the  grower  to 
devote  a  large  blank -book  or  record  to  each  plan- 
tation, entering  the  plan  of  the  area  in  the  earlier 
pages,  and  then  recording  the  yield  of  each  tree  or 
each  row  on  consecutive  pages  which  are  devoted  to 
the  different  years.  Such  a  book  would  be  to  the 
orchard  what  the  Babcock  test  is  to  the  dairy, — a 
means  of  determining  the  unprofitable  individuals. 
If  such  a  record  were  kept,  it  would  not  be  many 
years  before  the  orchardist  would  be  experimenting 
with  a  goodly  number  of  his  trees  in  order  to  de- 
termine how  to  make  them  as  productive  as  the 
best  ones  are. 

Of  labels  there  are  endless  devices,  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  no  label  can  be  expected  to  last 
in  good  condition  more  than  six  or  eight  years.  For 
temporary  or  annual  plants,  where  little  horse  work 
is  done,  the  commercial  garden  stakes,  12x1%  in., 
are  excellent.  These  cost,  when  painted  and  made  of 


308  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

soft,  clear  pine,  $4  to  $5  per  thousand.  For  a  more 
permanent  stake  label,  one  cut  from  clear  pine,  2  ft. 
long,  3%  in.  wide,  1%  in.  thick,  and  sawed  to  a 
point,  is  one  of  the  best.  These  are  given  two  thin 
coats  of  white  lead,  care  being  taken  not  to  pile 
them  upon  their  faces  until  thoroughly  dry,  to  avoid 
a  rough  surface  for  the  pencil.  The  record  may  be 
made  by  a  large  soft  pencil,  like  a  carpenter's  pencil, 
or  by  a  brush  and  black  paint ;  but  for  all  annual 
crops  the  pencil  will  be  found  more  serviceable.  At 
the  end  of  the  season,  or  when  the  record  becomes 
dim,  a  thin  shaving  is  planed  off  the  face  of  the 
label,  it  is  repainted,  and  used  again.  The  label  is 
thick  enough  to  allow  of  many  annual  dressings, 
while  the  lower  portion  is  not  reduced,  and  it  there- 
fore lasts  for  many  years  and  is  strong  enough  to 
resist  the  shocks  of  cultivator  or  whippletrees.  For 
ornamental  bushes,  this  large  label  is  too  conspicu- 
ous, and  for  this  purpose  a  pine  label  1%  in.  wide, 
%  in.  thick,  and  18  or  20  in.  long  is  excellent.  The 
lower  half  is  soaked  in  a  strong  solution  of  sulphate 
of  iron  (copperas),  and,  after  drying,  in  lime  water, 
to  preserve  it. 

A  great  variety  of  labels  has  been  recommended 
for  trees,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  we  have  yet  found  the 
ideal  label,  although  some  of  those  which  are  here 
described  seem  to  satisfy  most  needs.  Many  people 
like  zinc  labels  (No.  11,  Fig.  46),  cut  in  narrow 
strips  from  a  sheet  of  the  metal.  The  record  is  made 
upon  the  zinc  with  a  soft  lead  pencil,  and  the  label  is 
then  wound  about  a  branch.  Very  often  the  record  is 


Various  Labels.  309 

indistinct  upon  the  zinc  label,  but  the  chief  fault  is 
its  inconspicuousness.  It  requires  much  searching  to 
find  a  zinc  label  upon  a  large  tree,  and  this  objection 
holds  with  almost  every  practicable  tree  label  which 
has  been  introduced,  even  with  the  three  or  four -inch 
pine  labels  which  are  common  in  the  market.  Patent 
zinc  and  copper  labels,  which  are  cut  from  very  thin 
metal,  so  that  the  record  can  be  made  by  the  impres- 
sions of  a  sharp  point  or  style,  have  been  tried  at 
Cornell.  "These  pretty  and  so-called  indestructible 
labels  are  furnished  with  an  eyelet  through  which  the 
wire  passes.  We  were  much  pleased  with  these 
labels  when  we  put  them  upon  our  orchard  trees 
one  fall ;  but  the  next  spring  we  found  that  the 
metal  had  broken  away  from  the  eyelets,  and  nothing 
remained  of  them  but  a  hole  hung  upon  a  wire."* 

The  Cornell  label  is  the  device  shown  at  No.  3,  in 
the  illustration  (Fig.  46).  "We  buy  the  pine  'pack- 
age label,'  which  is  used  by  nurserymen,  and  which 
is  6  in.  long  and  1%  in.  wide.  These  labels  cost, 
painted,  $1.30  per  thousand.  These  are  wired  with 
stiff,  heavy,  galvanized  wire,  much  like  that  used  for 
pail  bales,  and  not  less  than  eighteen  inches  is  used 
upon  each  label.  Hooks  are  turned  in  the  ends  of 
the  wires  before  the  labels  are  taken  to  the  field. 
A  pail  of  pure  white  lead,  well  thinned  with  oil,  is 
taken  to  the  field  with  the  labels.  The  record  is 
made  with  a  very  soft  pencil,  the  label  is  dipped 
into  the  paint,  the  wire  is  placed  about  a  conspic- 

*Bull.  61,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.  341. 


Fig.  40.    Various  types  of  tree  labels.    See  explanation,  on  pages  308-311. 


Various  Labels.  311 

nous  limb,  and  the  hooks  are  joined  with  a  pair  of 
pliers.  The  paint  at  first  almost  completely  obscures 
the  writing,  but  some  of  it  drips  off  and  the  re- 
mainder dries  in,  so  that  the  record  becomes  bright 
and  the  soft  pencil  marks  are  indelibly  preserved, 
while  the  label  remains  white.  If  the  paint  is 
brushed  on,  the  soft  writing  will  be  blurred.  If  in 
the  future  the  wood  becomes  gray,  the  label  can  be 
brightened  by  immersing  it  in  a  pot  of  white  lead, 
without  removing  it  from  the  tree.  The  large  loop 
of  wire  allows  of  the  growth  of  the  branch,  and  the 
label  hangs  so  low  that  it  can  be  seen  at  a  glance. 
The  heavy,  stiff  wire  insures  the  safety  of  the  label 
against  boys  and  workmen.  It  cannot  be  removed 
without  a  pair  of  pincers.  The  label  is  large 
enough  to  allow  of  a  complete  record  of  the  name 
of  the  variety,  the  place  of  purchase,  age,  and  other 
matters;  and  it  is  readily  found."* 

The  various  labels  which  are  shown  in  Fig.  46, 
are  as  follows :  1,  2,  German  labels,  made  of 
glazed  earthenware,  with  the  name  colored  blue  and 
sunken.  Strong  copper  wire,  coiled,  to  allow  of  the 
growth  of  the  limb,  holds  the  label  to  the  tree.  3, 
Cornell  label,  described  above.  4,  double  wooden 
label,  consisting  of  two  common  wooden  labels  fas- 
tened together.  The  name  is  written  upon  the  outside 
of  the  double  label,  as  in  any  other  label,  but  it  is 
also  written  on  the  inside  to  insure  permanence. 
When  the  outside  writing  is  worn  off,  the  label  is 

*Bnll  61,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.,  341. 


312 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


opened  and  the  inside  is  still  bright.  The  label  is 
fastened  to  the  tree  by  a  tack  or  small  nail,  as 
shown  in  the  cut  at  the  right.  The  label  is  seen 
opened  in  the  cut  at  the  left.  5, 
6,  zinc  labels,  used  at  the  New  York 
State  Experiment  Station,  Geneva. 
The  wire  is  driven  into  the  tree, 
and  the  name  is  written  or  printed 
on  the  zinc  with  black  paint.  7, 
common  hand -made  wooden  tag,  ta- 
ken from  an  old  tree  in  the  test  or- 
chard of  the  late  Charles  Downing, 
Newburgh,  N.  Y.  8,  thin  copper 
label,  with  the  name  indented  into 
the  metal  by  the  use  of  a  hard- 
pointed  instrument.  Some  metal 
labels  are  apt  to  tear  out  at  the 
hole  when  exposed  to  winds.  9, 
common  painted  pine  label  used  by 
nurserymen,  and  costing  (without 
the  copper  wire)  about  35  cents  per 
thousand,  for  the  common  size, 
which  is  3%  inches  long.  10, 

Paddock's  vineyard   Lodeman,g       label>       uged       someWhat 

at  Cornell,  consisting  of  a  tag  of 
sheet  lead  securely  fastened  to  a  coiled  brass  wire. 
The  wire  is  secured  to  the  body  of  the  tree  by  a 
staple  or  screw -eye,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  wire 
will  become  imbedded  in  the  trunk  as  the  tree 
grows.  No.  11,  common  zinc  label  or  tally,  de- 
scribed on  page  308.  Fig.  47  is  Paddock's  vine- 


Winter-killing  of  Trees.  313 

yard  label  (designed  by  W.  Paddock,  State  Experi- 
ment Station,  Geneva,  N.  Y.).  The  label  is  a  strip 
of  heavy  zinc  secured  to  a  stiff  galvanized  wire. 
This  wire  or  shank  is  provided  with  a  hook  at  the 
lower  end  and  a  half -hitch  near  its  middle,  so  that  it- 
can  be  securely  adjusted  to  the  wires  of  the  trellis, 
holding  the  label  well  above  the  foliage. 

INJURIES    BY    COLD    AND    RAIN. 

There  are  two  distinct  types  of  injuries  to  fruit 
plants  by  cold, — true  winter -killing  (or  the  injury  of 
the  tree  or  buds  when  perfectly  dormant  by  the  low 
temperature  of  winter  time),  and  the  killing  of  the 
growing  or  swelling  parts  by  the  "cold  snaps"  or 
frosts  of  late  spring  and  early  fall.  Either  subject 
is  too  large  for  full  elaboration  in  the  present  vol- 
ume, and  therefore  only  some  of  the  most  obvious 
and  usual  aspects  of  the  subjects  are  here  considered. 

Winter -killing  of  the  wood. — There  are  three  fac- 
tors which  chiefly  appeal  to  the  fruit-grower  in  the 
winter -killing  of  trees, — positive  cold,  very  dry  or 
very  wet  soil,  and  heaving  of  the  land  by  frost. 
The  subject  of  "dry  freezing"  has  already  been  dis- 
cussed to  some  extent  in  Chapter  I.  The  heaving 
of  the  land  is  prevented  by  drainage,  by  proper 
methods  of  tillage,  and  by  the  judicious  use  of  cover 
crops.  The  degree  of  cold  may  be  somewhat  modi- 
fied, as  we  have  already  found,  by  exercising  judg- 
ment in  the  selection  of  site  and  exposure,  and  by 
the  careful  employment  of  wind-breaks.  Yet,  winter- 


314  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

killing  must  always  be  one  of  the  gravest  risks 
which  the  fruit-grower  assumes  when  he  undertakes 
the  business. 

Winter -injury  to  the  trees  or  plants  themselves 
usually  appears  in  the  form  of  splits  or  long  checks 
in  the  trunks,  or  in  the  outright  death  of  the  ends 
of  the  brandies,  or  even  of  the  entire  plant.  For 
the  splits  lengthwise  the  trunk,  the  proper  treatment 
is  to  pare  off  the  dead  and  loosened  bark  to  the 
"quick"  just  as  soon  as  the  bark  begins  to  spread, 
and  to  cover  the  surface  of  the  wound  (and  the 
cleft)  with  Bordeaux  mixture  or  paint.* 

The  proper  treatment  for  frozen -back  trees  must 
be  determined  for  each  particular  case;  but  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  injured  portion  is  no 
longer  of  any  use  to  the  plant,  whilst  it  may  be  a 
positive  detriment  by  accelerating  the  evaporation  of 
moisture.  The  best  treatment  for  plants  seriously 
injured  upon  the  extremities  is  to  cut  them  back 
very  heavily.  This  severe  heading-in — sometimes  to 
the  extent  of  three  or  four  feet — removes  the  driest 
and  weakest  portions,  and  concentrates  the  energy 
of  the  tree  into  a  comparatively  small  area  of  top. 
Heavy  pruning  always  tends  towards  the  production 
of  wood,  and  this  wood  production  is  probably  never 
more  needed  than  in  winter -injured  trees,  for  it  tends 
to  renew  the  vitality  of  the  tree.  The  philosophy 
of  this  becomes  apparent  upon  a  moment's  reflec- 
tion. The  browned  and  injured  wood  can  never  re- 

*The  general  subject  of  treating  and  repairing  injured  trees  is  fully  dis- 
cussed, with  illustrations,  in  "The  Pruning-Book." 


Treating   Frozen    Trees.  315 

gain  its  former  usefulness.  New  tissue  must  be 
developed  as  quickly  as  possible,  in  order  to  carry 
forward  and  to  maintain  the  vegetative  energies. 
This  new  tissue  is  laid  on  over  the  old,  and  the 
old  thereby  quickly  becomes  sealed  in,  so  to  speak, 
and  removed  from  the  agencies  of  decay.  Every 
observant  fruit-grower  kno^s  that  if  a  tree  which  is 
severely  winter -injured  in  limb  and  trunk  were  to 
bear  even  a  partial  crop  of  fruit  in  the  coming  sea- 
son, it  would  very  likely  die  outright.  If,  however, 
all  its  energies  were  directed  to  the  development  of 
new  tissue,  the  injury  would  soon  be  overgrown. 
The  injured  wood,  like  the  heartwood  of  the  tree,  is 
soon  removed  from  active  participation  in  the  vital 
processes.  It  therefore  follows  that  the  danger  re- 
sulting from  the  browning  or  blackening  of  the  wood 
by  winter -in  jury  depends  very  much  upon  the  sub- 
sequent treatment  of  the  trees.  Fig.  48  shows  the 
body  of  a  young  plum  tree  (in  longitudinal  and 
cross -wise  sections)  which  was  frozen  black  in  the 
severe  winter  of  1895-6.  It  was  heavily  pruned  in 
the  spring  of  J896,  and  in  the  fall  had  made  a  ring 
of  bright  new  wood,  which  was  amply  sufficient  to 
maintain  the  tree  in  perfect  health  for  a  long  life. 
This  appearance  is  common  in  nursery  stock  the 
year  following  a  very  hard  winter,  but  such  trees 
may  not  be  permanently  injured. 

There  are  instances  in  which  this  heavy  heading- 
back  seems  to  do  more  harm  than  good.  These  are 
cases  in  which  the  entire  tree  is  almost  uniformly  in- 
jured, and  the  plant  seems  to  need  the  stimulus  of 


The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 


all  its  buds  to  bring  out  the  feeble  life 
which  is  still  left  to  it ;  but  these  cases 
are  comparatively  rare.  It  is  probable 
that  the  greater  number  of  reported  in- 
stances of  death  due  to  heavy  pruning 
of  winter -injured  trees  are  of  such  trees 
as  would  hav£  died  under  any  treatment. 
Winter -killed  plants  often  retain  suffi- 
cient vitality  to  enable  them  to  leaf  out 
or  to  bloom,  and  sometimes  even  to  be- 
gin growth,  but  when  the  stored  vital- 
ity of  the  tissues  is  exhausted  the  plant 
perishes.  This  explains  the  phenomenon, 
which,  after  a  bad  winter,  nearly  always 
puzzles  the  inobservant  fruit-grower,  of 
trees  starting  into  feeble  growth  and 
then  suddenly  dying  when  warm  and  dry 
weather  approaches. 

Winter -killing  of  the  fruit- 
buds. — In  severe  winters,  the 
entire  fruit -spur  (in  the  spur- 
fruits,  as  apples,  pears,  plums 
and  apricots)  may  be  killed 
outright,  but  the  commoner 
case  is  the  death  of  the 
bud  only.  The  bud  may  be 
entirely  killed,  in  which  case 
it  soon  turns  brown  through- 
out its  entire  diameter  and  the  flower  never  opens  : 
or  only  the  pistil  (the  central  organ,  which  ripens  into 
the  fruit)  may  be  killed,  in  which  case  the  flower  may 


Fig.  48.     Showing  the  new  tissue 
formed  around  winter-injured  wood. 


Winter -killing   of  Buds. 


317 


open   and    appear  to  be   perfectly  normal   to    the  un- 
critical   observer.        The     latter    case    is   common    in 
peaches   and   apricots.     Fig.  49   illustrates    the    point. 
The    flower   at   the  right   was  unin- 
jured by  the  winter,  and    the    pistil 
is     seen,   grown    full    length,    at    1. 
In   the   other   flower,   the    pistil,   at 
2,    is    dead.       We    know    that    this 
pistil  was  killed  before  the  bud  be- 
gan to  swell,  because   it   retains  the 
small     size     which     it     must     have 
had    in    the    dormant    bud.      If   it 
had  been    killed  after  the  bud    had  Fig.  49.  Normal  apricot  flower 
swollen,     it    would    have     appeared    J^VSt'SSLS.?* 
as     a     much     larger    and    a     more 
or    less   crumpled    or   withered    organ,  as  in    &,    Fig. 
52,   page  320. 

A    true  fruit -bud    is  one    in  which   the   flower,  or 
cluster    of    flowers,    is    present    in    miniature.       (See 

"The    Pruning -Book" 
for      full      discussion 
of    fruit -buds.)     This 
flower     occupies      the 
very    center     of     the 
bud,     and      is      sur- 
rounded by  dense  lay- 
ers    of      scales.       A 
healthy   bud    is    nor- 
mally   green    in    the    central    part    in    cross -section. 
When    the    bud    has   been    killed    by   the    winter,   in 
the     usual    manner,     this     central     portion     of     the 


Fig.  50.    Apricot  buds,     a,  alive  ;  b  and  c, 
killed  by  winter.    Enlarged. 


318  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

flower  becomes  prominently  discolored  or  almost  black. 
Fig.  50  shows  a  fresh  or  live  bud  at  «,  and  a  killed 
bud  at  b  and  c.  When  only  the  pistil  is  killed,  un- 
trained eyes  may  not  detect  the  injury.  The  general 
run  of  examinations  made  of  buds  by  farmers,  to  de- 
termine if  there  is  winter -in  jury,  are  of  little  conse- 


Fig.  51.    Showing  structure  of  peach  buds. 

quence.  Except  in  very  pronounced  instances,  the 
only  reliable  examination  is  one  which  is  made  under 
a  dissecting  microscope. 

Halsted*  makes  some  good  observations  in  this 
direction  :  "  Longitudinal  sections  through  the  buds 
show  something  of  what  has  taken  place  in  the  pre- 

*  Kept.  New  Jersey  Exp.  Sta.,  1890,  327;    also  Amer.  Gard.  xi.  266. 


Kitting   of  Fruit-buds.  319 

maturely  developed  buds.  At  a,  Fig.  51,  is  shown 
a  section  through  a  bud,  as  found  in  January  of  an 
ordinary  winter.  The  bud  scales  overlap  each  other 
closely,  and  inclose  all  the  more  tender  parts  that  go 
to  make  up  the  blossom.  The  pistil,  that  is  to  de- 
velop into  the  fruit,  occupies  the  center,  and  is  a 
somewhat  flask -shaped  body,  while  next  to  it  are  the 
floral  parts,  to  which  the  stamens  are  attached.  The 
stamens  are  small  and  almost  colorless.  Turning  now 
to  &,  which  represents  a  section  through  a  half -opened 
bud,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  very  little  change 
in  the  pistil.  This  portion  ^s  the  last  to  be  affected 
by  the  modifying  circumstances;  but  the  scales  are 
wide  open  at  the  top,  the  stamens  have  enlarged  re- 
markably, and  it  is  to  their  development  that  much 
of  the  opening  out  of  the  scales  is  due.  It  is  only 
necessary,  at  this  time,  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  stamens  are  organs  for  the  production  of  pol- 
len, and  this  flower -dust  is  only  used  to  stimulate  the 
receptive  pistil  into  new  life.  And,  while  the  growth 
of  the  pistil  is  mostly  after  fertilization,  it  is,  however, 
true  that  during  the  time  when  it  is  receptive  to  the 
pollen  it  is  most  susceptible  to  cold  and  other  condi- 
tions, and  it  is  the  portion  of  a  peach  bud  that  first 
manifests  injury  from  frost  or  other  exposure. 

"The  inference  is  natural  that  cold  can  get  into 
an  open  bud  much  more  easily  than  a  closed  one, 
but  we  need  to  look  back  of  the  visible  differences 
to  the  vital  conditions.  Vegetable  tissues  in  active 
condition  are  less  able  to  bear  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold  than  those  in  a  quiescent  state.  A  seed,  for 


320 


The   Principles    of    Fruit -growing. 


example,  that  is  dormant  will  bear  the  conditions 
without  injury  that  would  kill  it  if  germination  was 
taking  place.  The  delicate  structure  at  the  center 
of  a  flower  not  only  needs  to  be  kept,  by  the  infold- 
ing bud  scales,  from  being  exposed  to  the  elements, 
but,  most  of  all,  it  requires  that  an  inactive  condi- 
tion within  itself  shall  prevail. 
A  well -prepared  bud  is  like  a 
seed,  and  becomes  most  sus- 
ceptible to  sudden  changes 
only  when  it  is  unfolding 
or  preparing  to  grow.  It  is 
not  so  much  the  opening  of 
the  bud  scales  as  the  grow- 
ing condition  within,  result- 
ing in  the  unfolding,  that 
permits  the  dangerous  results. 
"The  pistil  is  the  part 
first  to  show  that  the  flower 
bud  is  blasted  and  worthless. 
The  green,  fresh  appearance 
is  replaced  by  brownness, 
and  the  former  plump,  upright  organ  becomes 
shriveled  and  drooping.  In  Fig.  52,  at  a,  is  shown 
a  healthy  pistil,  as  seen  in  a  live  bud.  To  the 
right,  at  6,  is  another  pistil  that  has  recently  been 
killed,  and  was  turning  brown.  The  stamens  are  the 
next  to  change,  in  the  same  way,  from  the  normal 
color  to  the  brown  of  death.  The  other  less  vital 
organs  of  the  blossom  finally  die,  and  after  a  short 
time  become  a  dark  and  worthless  substance.  If  the 


Fig.  52.    Live  and  killed  pistils 


Killing    of  Fruit -buds. 


321 


bud  is  not  opened,  it  may  require  a  longitudinal 
cut  of  the  knife  to  determine  the  exact  condition, 
but  last  winter  an  ordinary  pinch  of  the  swollen  bud 


Fig.  53.     Showing,   respectively,   swollen  buds  of  apricot,   peach,  Japan  plum, 
and  pear,  all  of  which  were  uninjured  by  14°  of  frost. 


was  enough  to  demonstrate  that    all  was   blasted   and 
worthless  within." 

Injuries  to  the  swelling  buds. — A  great  amount  of 
mischief  is  done  by  "cold  snaps"  after  the  buds  have 
begun  to  swell,  and  yet  the  disaster  is  not  so  easily 
wrought, —  at  least  not  in  the  north, —  as  is  commonly 
supposed.  Even  the  buds  of  the  tenderer  fruits  may 
endure  very  sharp  freezes  after  they  have  begun  to 


322  TJic    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

show  color.  In  the  spring  of  1897,  some  observa- 
tions were  made  upon  this  point  at  Cornell.  Biuls 
of  apricots,  peaches,  plums  and  pears  (as  shown  in 
Fig.  53)  had  swollen  to  three  or  four  times  their 
normal  size.  The  pink  color  of  the  apricot  buds  was 
distinctly  visible,  and  the  tips  of  the  anthers  could 
be  seen  in  the  Japan  plums  by  looking  down  squarely 
upon  the  buds.  In  this  condition,  the  buds  endured 
with  no  injury  the  following  temperatures,  as  taken 
by  self -registering  thermometers  hung  in  the  trees 
(very  light  snow  on  the  ground  and  a  wind  blowing 
all  night) : 

Lowest  temperature. 

April  20,  Apricot,  peach,  Japan  plum,  pear 18° 

April  21 ,  Apricot,  peach,  pear 19° 

—   Japan  plum 18° 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  buds  endured  14  degrees 
of  frost  without  injury.  Upon  the  coldest  morning, 
the  buds  were  stiff  from  freezing,  and  in  some  in- 
stances the  backs  and  tips  of  some  of  the  petals  were 
permanently  discolored.  The  buds  swelled  with  the 
freezing,  but  returned  to  their  previous  size  when 
thawed  out,  but  they  looked  as  if  withered  for  several 
days, —  or  until  active  expansion  began.  It  is  very 
probable  that  buds  cannot  endure  this  degree  of  cold 
further  south. 

Injuries  to  floiccrs  and  growing  parts. — When  the 
flowers  have  fully  expanded,  a  comparatively  light 
frost  will  destroy  them.  This  is  shown  in  the  fact 
that  a  very  slight  elevation  in  a  blackberry  or  straw- 


Frost   Injury   to   Flowers. 


323 


Fig.  54.    A  strawberry 
nubbin,  due  to  frost. 


berry  patch  is  often   sufficient   to    avert   injury.     The 

pistils    seem  to  suffer  first.     A  strawberry    nubbin   is 

shown  in  Fig.  54.  The  top  of  the  berry  (or  the  bot- 
tom, as  it  hangs)  is  flattened  and 
deformed.  This  is  generally  due 
to  the  freezing  of  the  upper  pis- 
tils in  the  flower,  as  it  stood  erect. 
Nubbins  are  sometimes  the  result 
of  imperfect  pollination,  but  in 
such  cases  the  deformity  is  more 

apt    to    be  upon    the    sides    than    upon   the   top,    for 

the  top    pistils  are   the  ones  which   are  very   likely  to 

be  fertilized  by  insects. 

A    similar    case   is    reported   upon    blackberries    at 

Cornell.*     "The    only    serious  ac- 
cident   which  is    known   to  injure 

the  blackberry  crop  in   this   state 

is    frost ;    and   in    most   cases  the 

injury  is  unavoidable,  even  though 

the    grower    has    warning    of    its 

approach.     In  the  six  crops  which 

we   have    grown    in    our    patches 

here,  only  this  year   have  we  suf 

ered    from    frost,    and    even    this 

year,    when    the    cold    wave    was 

unusually    late    and    severe,    only   Fig- 55-  Blackberry  flower; 

J  full  size. 

the    lowest    places    suffered    seri- 
ously.     Drawings    of    blackberry   flowers   were    made 
upon  the  spot,  two  or  three  days  after  the  frost,  and 


'Bull.  99,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


324  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

they  are  here  reproduced,  natural 
size.  A  normal,  uninjured  flower 
is  shown  in  Fig.  55.  Inside  the 
five  white  petals  or  leaves  are  seen 
the  numerous  sprawling  stamens 
or  so-called  male  organs,  each  one 
bearing  an  enlargement  or  anther 
on  the  end,  inside  which  the 
pollen  is  borne.  In  the  center 
of  the  flower  is  the  head  or 
cluster  of  pistils  or  so-called  fe- 
male organs,  each  of  which  ripens  into  one  of  the 
little  grains  which  go  to  make  up  the  blackberry. 

The  frost  killed  these 
organs,   so    that    the 
center  of    the   flower 
bore    only      a    small 
black  column  of  dead 
pistils   (see  Fig.  56). 
Now   and   then,    one 
or     more     of     these 
pistils    in     the    head 
escaped,     and     developed     into     a 
fruit -grain,     so      that     the      berry 
became    a  nubbin.      Fig.  57  shows 
the    dead     and    aborted     fruits    at 
picking    time.     At   the  top  of    the 
picture   are    some    fruits     (X,    X,) 
in    which    one     or    two    grains    or 
drupes   are   full    grown,  whilst  the 

Fig.  57.    Blackberry  fruits 

ruined  by  frost.          rest  of  the  berry  failed  to  develop. 


Frost   Injury    to   Flowers.  325 

ttlpon  the  8th  of  May,  1897,  a  temperature  of  27° 
(5  degrees  of  frost)  was  recorded  by  self -registering 
thermometers  hung  in  fruit  trees  at  Cornell,  but  no 
injury  resulted.  At  this  time,  all  the  petals  had 
dropped  from  apricot  flowers,  but  the  calyx  ring  had 
not  yet  fallen  from 
the  young  fruits ; 
peach  flowers  were 
in  full  bloom,  but 
their  fertilization  had 
mostly  taken  place  ; 
Japan  plum  flowers 
were  just  dropping, 
and  pear  flowers  were 
open,  but  not  yet 
fully  fertilized. 

Young    fruits    of 
apples      and       pears 
may    sometimes      re- 
cover from   a-  severe 
freeze  and  make  per- 
fect   specimens.       It 
is    even    insisted    by    Fig  C8    Frost  injury  OI1  young  K"^ffer  peiirs. 
some  careful  observ- 
ers that   they   sometimes   recover  even   if   frozen   solid 
shortly  after  they   are  "set,"  the  fruits  failing  to  de- 
velop  perfect     seeds     thereafter.*      Fruits    which    are 

*"The  freeze  of  May,  1895;  froze  the  fruit  solid.  The  center  of  each  pear 
turned  black,  and  yet  they  persisted  in  growing.  There  were  eighty  barrels. 
I  doubt  if  there  was  a  seed  or  core  in  the  whole  lot.  The  quality  was  the 
best  that  I  have  ever  seen."— Extract  from  letter  from  Benj.  F.  Hawes,  Oak- 
field,  N.  Y. 


326 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growng. 


simply  frost -bitten, —  that  is,  injured  by  a  deposit  of 
white  frost, —  are  very  likely  to  persist,  but  to  show 
blemishes  or  deformities  even  at  maturity.  A  com- 
mon effect  of  very  late  frosts  is  to  leave  a  distinct 
russet  zone  upon  the  fruit.  This  zone  marks  the 
position  of  the  frost  upon  the  young  fruit.  Apples 
and  pears  are  usually  still  erect  when  these  frosts 
occur,  and  the  dew, — which,  when  frozen,  is  frost, — 
probably  settles  in  a  ring  or  belt  near  the  top  of  the 
fruit  or  midway  down  it.  The  exact  position  and 
conformation  of  this  deposit  of  dew  are,  of  course, 
determined  by  the  shape,  position  and  exposure  of  the 
fruit.  Figs.  58  and  59  show  the  frost  zones  on 


Fig.  59.    Frost  injuries  on  young  apples. 

young  pears  and  apples.  This  injured,  corky  tissue 
has  the  power  of  increasing  itself  by  the  extension 
of  the  abnormal  cells,  so  that  the  zone  is  likely  to 


Injuries   to   the   Fruits. 


327 


widen  with  the  growth  of  the  fruit.  Mature  fruits, 
with  the  rusty  frost  marks  still  conspicuous,  are  seen 
in  Figs.  60  and  61.  In  some  cases,  the  growth  of 


Fig.  60.    Frost  mark  on  a  mature 
Flemish  Beauty  pear. 


Fig.  61.    Rusty  frost  zone  around  a 
mature  apple. 


tissue  iii  the  injured  zone  seems  to  be  slow,  resulting 
in    a  constriction   of   the   fruit   at   that   point. 

Amongst  the  most  serious  results  of  very  late 
frosts  in  the  north  are  the  injuries  to  vineyards.  The 
cold  of  May  13,  1895,  wrought  great  havoc  in 
the  Chautauqua  vineyards  of  New  York,  and 
forced  the  problem  of  how  'to  manage  frozen  vines 


328 


Tlie    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


upon  the  attention  of  growers.  Fig.  62  shows  the 
shoots  of  a  grape  vine  as  injured  by  the  freeze. 
Acres  of  vineyards,  which  had  made  several  inches 
of  growth,  were  seemingly  killed  by  the  disaster. 


Fig.  62.    Grape  shoots  ruined  by  the  freeze  of  May,  1895. 

The  extent  to  which  the  vines  had  grown  is  shown 
by  Fig.  63  (page  330).  The  spray  upon  the  left 
shows  the  grapes  of  normal  size  (that  is,  from  unin- 
jured shoots)  as  they  looked  in  midsummer.  The 
central  spray  shows  grapes  which  were  produced  from 
the  second  crop  of  flowers,  which  appeared  after  the 


Treating   Frozen    Vines.  329 

vines  began  to  recuperate.  The  right-hand  spray 
shows  a  cluster  of  flowers  appearing  upon  a  belated 
'shoot.  Of  course,  only  the  clusters  of  the  largest 
size,  as  shown  at  the  left,  ripened  into  good  fruit. 
i  In  proceeding  to  treat  frozen  vines,  like  those  de- 
scribed, it  must  first  of  all  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  injured  parts  are  of  no  further  use  to  the  plants, 
.and,  as  we  have  seen,  they  are  very  apt  to  weaken 
the  plant  by  causing  it  to  lose  much  of  its  moisture. 
.The  rational  procedure,  therefore,  is  to  strip  off  all 
.the  frozen  shoots  soon  after  the  disaster,  so  as  to 
allow  the  energies  of  the  plant  to  divert  themselves 
to  the  production  of  new  shoots.  When  the  injured 
parts  are  soft  and  small,  it  is  customary  to  remove 
them  by  pulling  them  off,  rather  than  by  cutting 
them  off.  In  vineyards  which  are  well  pruned,  the 
cost  of  stripping  ought  not  to  exceed  one  dollar  an  acre. 

What  is  an  injurious  degree  of  cold  f*  —  To  this 
oft -asked  question  there  can  be  no  specific  answer, 
because  so  much  depends  upon  the  latitude,  the 
time  of  year  and  the  condition  of  the  plants. 
Hammont  gives  the  following  "  table  of  temperatures 
at  which  the  following  plants  are  liable  to  receive 
injury  from  frosts,  compiled  from  information  received 
from  horticulturists,  orchardists  and  gardeners  through- 
out the  entire  Pacific  coast. 

"The  temperatures  given  are  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible those  in  contact  with,  the  plant  itself. 

*  A  discussion  of  acclimatization,  and  other  problems  of  climate  and  plants, 
.  may  be  found  in  "The  Survival  of  the  Unlike." 

t  W.  H.  Hamrnon,  "Frost,  How  and  When  to  Prevent  Injury  Thereby,"  1896. 


Injurious   Degrees   of   Cold. 


331 


PLANTS  OR  FRUITS. 


In  bnd. 


In  bios-    In  setting       At  other 
som.  fruit.  times. 


Almonds  ...................      28°  30°  30°  28° 

Apples  .....................      27  29  30  26 

Apricots  ....................      30  31  32  30 

Asparagus  ..................       29  29  29  26 

Bananas  ....................      31  31  32  31 

Barley  ........................  29        "     .. 

Beans  ........................  31  .  .  31 

Beets  .........................  -..  ..  25 

Cantaloupes  ................      32  32  ..  30  to  31 

Celery  ........................  .....  28 

Cucumbers  .................      31  31  31  32 

Cymlings,  or  squash  ........      31  31  31  30 

Flowers*  ........  -  ...........      31  31  31  30 

Grapes  .....................      31  31  30  28 

Grape-fruit  .................      30  31  31  28 

Lemons  .....................       30  31  31  28 

Mandarins  and  Tangerines..      31  31  31  28 
Oats  ........................      31 

Olives  ......................      30  31  31      18  ripe,  24  green 

Onions  .......................  .  .  .  .  29 

Orangest  ...................      30  31  31      26  ripe,  29  green 

Peaches  ....................      29  30  30  29 

Pears  .......................      28  29  29  28 

Peas  ........................      29  30  30  25 

Plums  ......................      30  31  31  29 

Potatoes,  Irish  ..............      30  30  30  31 

"       sweet,  and  tomatoes       31  31  31  31 

Prunes  .....................      30  31  31  29 

Shrubs,  roses  or  trees  ......  26  to  30  28  to  32  ..  0  to  26 

Strawberries  ................       28  28  28  30 

Spinach  .......................  ..  ..  21 

Turnips  ......................  .  .  .  .  2f> 

Watermelons  .................  ..  ..  28  to  31 

Wheat  ........................  31  31  ». 

Walnuts,  English  ...........      30  31  31  28 


*  Depends  on  variety. 

t  Injured  at  two  degrees  higher  if  continued  4  to  ( 


332  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

We  have  already  seen  (page  322)  that  at  Ithaca, 
New  York,  apricots,  peaches  and  other  fruits  were 
able  to  endure  a  temperature  of  18°,  even  when 
the  buds  were  well  swollen.  In  respect  to  the 
variations  in  the  effects  of  winter  temperatures, 
McCluer*  writes  from  the  Illinois  Experiment  Sta- 
tion as  follows  : 

"Here,  we  ordinarily  think  of  14°  or  15°  below 
zero  as  fatal  to  the  peach  crop,  and  as  we  often 
have  a  lower  temperature  than  that  but  few  peaches 
are  planted.  During  the  winter  of  1894-5  the  ther- 
mometer several  times  ranged  below  20,  and  once 
sank  to  25  below  zero,  and  yet  only  half  the  peach 
buds  were  killed,  and  the  trees  produced  a  good 
crop  the  season  following.  Last  winter,  with  a 
minimum  temperature  of  only  5°  below  zero,  fully 
one -third  of  the  peach  buds  were  killed.  I  do  not 
know  just  what  conditions  made  the  buds  more 
hardy  one  season  than  another ;  neither  do  I  know 
why  part  of  the  buds  on  a  tree  should  be  more 
hardy  than  the  rest.  Even  in  the  axil  of  the  same 
leaf  one  bud  may  be  killed  and  the  other  live. 

"Other  organic  siibstances  show  the  same  differ- 
ences. In  a  half -bushel  basket  of  potatoes  exposed 
to  the  cold  in  a  cellar,  I  have  often  found  frozen 
tubers  scattered  through  the  basket  and  the  rest  not 
frozen.  In  the  blossom -buds  of  the  cherry  and  plum 
one  or  more  may  often  be  found  killed,  while  the 
rest  have  escaped. 

*G.  W.  McCluer,  Garden  and  Forest,  ix.  209  (May  20,  1896). 


Effects   of  Rain   at   Blooming -time.  333 

"When  we  first  began  to  spray  our  peach  trees 
to  prevent  the  fruit  from  rotting,  the  Bordeaux 
mixture  used  was  not  properly  prepared,  and  as  a 
consequence  a  large  part  of  the  leaves  on  -the  sprayed 
trees  fell  off  prematurely.  The  next  spring  it  was 
found  that  there  was  a  larger  proportion  of  live 
buds  on  the  trees  from  which  the  leaves  had  fallen 
than  on  the  rest  of  the  same  variety.  My  explana- 
tion at  the  time  was  that  the  buds  become  less 
hardy  in  proportion  as  they  are  more  developed. 
We  know  this  is  true  in  the  spring.  The  question 
at  once  arises,  at  what  stage  in  the  development  of 
a  bud  is  it  the  most  hardy,  and  how  can  we  best 
control  that  development  ?  This  seems  to  me  a 
promising  field  for  careful  study." 

The  effect  of  rain  upon  blossoms. — It  is  perfectly 
well  known  that  the  weather  conditions  in  which 
plants  are  growing  may  profoundly  affect  the 
fecundity  of  the  flowers.  In  the  forcing  of  winter 
vegetables,  for  example,  it  is  of  the  gi'eatest  impor- 
tance to  keep  the  house  dry  and  warm  when  polli- 
nation is  to  be  effected,  and  better  results — both  in 
the  amount  of  pollen  produced,  and  in  the  ease 
with  which  it  is  discharged  from  the  anthers  — are 
commonly  obtained  in  bright  sunshine.  (See,  also, 
page  227.)  It  is  very  probable  that  if  the  flowers 
of  fruit  plants  were  to  be  kept  constantly  wet,  very 
little  pollination  would  take  place.  It  is  probable, 
also,  that  dashing  rains  at  blossoming  time  wash 
away  much  of  the  pollen,  but  it  is  doubtful  if 
enough  of  it  would  be  lost  in  such  passing  storms 


334  The    Principle*    of   Fruit-growing. 

to  seriously  reduce  the  crop  of  fruit.  The  most 
disastrous  storms  are  probably  those  milder  ones  of 
long  duration,  and  which  are  accompanied  by  a  low 
temperature.  Not  only  may  such  weather  tend  to 
prevent  the  discharge  of  pollen,  but  it  prohibits  tin- 
work  of  insects. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  above  remarks  are 
inferences.  We  have  almost  no  exact  knowledge 
as  to  the  effect  of  rain  storms  upon  the  setting  of 
fruit.  A  few  small  studies  have  so  far  been  made 
in  this  country,  and  these  are  now  quoted. 

Beach  and  Fail-child*  report  experiments  in  ap- 
plying continuous  sprays  to  pears  and  grapes.  "On 
May  16  two  Mount  Vernon  pear  trees,  apparently 
of  equal  vigor,  standing  within  one  hundred  feet 
of  each  other,  were  selected.  Into  one  was  thrust 
the  Vermorel  nozzle,  with  its  broad,  fine  spray. 
The  tree  was  about  twenty -five  feet  high,  and  the 
spray  from  the  nozzle  did  not  entirely  cover  it ;  in 
fact,  the  original  design,  soon  abandoned,  was  to  wet 
only  one -half  of  the  tree,  and  leave  the  other  half 
dry.  At  the  inauguration  of  the  experiment,  only  a 
few  blossoms  had  opened  upon  either  tree,  and,  as 
no  insects  had  been  busy  about  the  fruit  trees,  owing 
to  the  cold  weather  immediately  preceding,  no  risk 
from  previous  pollination  was  run.  The  water  was 
turned  on  at  noon  of  May  16,  and  kept  running 
(except  from  10  A.  M.  of  the  21st,  to  10  A.  M.  of 
the  23d,  during  an  almost  constant  rain-storm,  pre- 

*  Eleventh  Ann.  Hep.  X.  Y.  State  KXJI.  St;i.  for  1892,  607. 


Rain   at   Blossoming  -time .  335 

dpitating  .72  of  an  inch  of  water),  until  3  P.  M. 
of  the  25th.  The  total  length  of  time  in  which  the 
tree  was  kept  wet  was  two  hundred  and  nineteen 
hours,  or  nine  days  and  three  hours. 

"On  May  17,  after  the  tree  had  been  under  the 
spray  twenty -four  hours,  an  examination  was  made 
of  the  stigmas  of  many  of  the  flowers,  and  they 
were  found  to  be  dusted  with  pollen,  although  no 
insects  had  been  seen  about  the  tree.  Pollen  was 
taken  from  fresh  anthers  on  the  21st  (the  fifth  day), 
and  placed  in  weak  sugar  solution,  to  test  its  ger- 
minative  power.  It  proved  to  be  perfectly  capable  of 
germination.  The  flowers  at  this  time  presented  a 
curious  appearance.  The  anthers  of  the  innermost 
stamens  were  plump  and  of  their  normal  pink  color, 
while  the  outermost  ones  were  swollen  and  decayed, 
and  contained  many  disintegrated  pollen  grains,  and 
a  few  that  had  evidently  been  induced  to  germinate 
by  the  excess  of  moisture.  The  power  of  the  male 
elements  to  withstand  long -continued  moisture  was 
apparently  great,  for  at  the  close  of  the  experiment, 
after  the  rain  had  ceased,  many  anthers  opened  and 
shed  an  abundance  of  pollen,  while  the  anthers  of 
flowers  on  adjacent  trees  had  withered  and  fallen  sev- 
eral days  previously.  After  turning  off  the  water ,  on 
the  25th,  an  examination  with  a  hand  lens  was  made 
of  flowers  on  both  the  side  nearest  to  and  that  far- 
thest from  the  spray,  with  the  following  result  : 

"Of  four  hundred  and  three  flowers  counted  on 
the  side  receiving  the  most  water,  one  hundred  and 
three  were  possessed  of  plump  anthers  and  apparently 


336  The  .Principles   of  Fruit-growing, 

normal  stigmas.  Of  three  hundred  and  three  flowers 
upon  the  dryer  side,  only  three  were  still  fresh  and 
capable  of  fertilization.  The  effect  of  the  water  in 
retarding  the  development  of  the  flowers  was  strik- 
ingly illustrated. 

#*#*#***##* 

"Although,  as  mentioned  above,  after  the  spray 
had  been  removed  main-  flowers  with  perfect  anthers 
and  pistils  remained  capable,  presumably,  of  self-pol- 
lination, only  one  fruit,  bearing  three  seeds,  was 
borne  by  the  tree.  This  was  produced  about  midway 
between  that  half  more  heavily  wet  down  and  that 
more  nearly  dry.  The  unsprayed  tree  produced  a  fair 
crop  of  normal  fruit. 

"Two  vines  situated  near  each  other  were  selected 
for  an  experiment.  One  was  left  untreated  for  a 
check,  the  other  was  sprayed  for  twelve  nights  and 
days.  Since  the  Duchess  came  into  blossom  later 
than  was  anticipated,  the  sprayed  vine  was  under 
treatment  a  wreek  before  the  check  began  to  bloom. 
Unavoidably  the  spray  was  discontinued  before  either 
of  the  vines  was  out  of  blossom.  It  will,  therefore, 
be  seen  that  the  twelve  days'  treatment  did  not  cover 
the  entire  period  that  the  vines  were  in  bloom. 

"The  first  apparent  effect  of  the  spray  was  to  re- 
tard the  opening  of  the  grape  blossoms  four  days,  as 
compared  with  the  blossoming  of  the  check  vine. 
This  effect  was  noticeable  during  the  blossoming 
period,  and  the  treated  vine  continued  in  blossom 
at  least  four  days  longer  than  the  check.  Retarding 
the  blossoming  period,  however,  had  no  perceptible 


Rain   at   Blossoming -time.  337 

influence  on  the  ripening  of  the  fruit,  for  the  fruit  of 
both  vines  ripened  at  the  same  time.  *  *  * 

"A  microscopic  examination,  made  after  the  spray 
had  been  running  eleven  days,  failed  to  disclose  any 
perceptible  injury  to  the  pollen.  The  pollen  germs 
were  not  disintegrated,  nor  had  they  germinated,  and 
no  difference  could  be  detected  between  them  and 
pollen  grains  from  the  check  vine.  By  its  peculiar 
structure  the  grape  blossom  is  well  adapted  to  with- 
stand protracted  rains  without  injury  to  the  sexual 
organs.  As  shown  by  one  of  the  writers  in  a  re- 
cent paper  (see  page  230),  many  grapes  pollenize 
their  own  stigmas  before  the  blossoms  open  enough 
to  allow  the  entrance  of  outside  pollen,  and  the 
Duchess  belongs  to  this  class.  Although  self-pollina- 
tion is  thus  insured,  efficient  fertilization  does  not 
always  follow,  and  consequently  in  some  varieties 
it  does  not  result  in  the  production  of  fruit.  Such 
grapes  are  able  to  set  fruit  only  when  supplied  with 
outside  pollen.  It  is,  therefore,  probable  that  with 
grapes  of  this  class,  e.  </.,  Salem  and  Brighton, 
the  effect  of  constant  spraying  throughout  the  blos- 
soming period  would  give  more  marked  results  than 
with  the  variety  noted  in  this  experiment. 

"The  most  marked  and  permanent  influence  of 
the  spray  was  seen  in  the  character  of  the  fruit. 
The  clusters  from  the  treated  vine  had  very  many 
abortive  berries,  either  with  no  seeds  at  all  or  with 
only  mere  rudiments  of  seeds.  A  few  clusters  were 
nearly  or  quite  perfect.  These  may  have  blossomed 
after  the  spray  had  been  discontinued.  All  other 

W 


338  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

clusters  had  many  abortive  fruits,  and  showed  every 
gradation  of  loss  up  to  80  or  90  per  cent.  No  clus- 
ter was  seen  in  which  all  the  berries  were  abortive. 
With  the  check  vine  perfect  clusters  were  numerous, 
and  abortive  berries  were  comparatively  few.  The 
whole  loss  of  fruit  on  the  sprayed  vine  cannot  be 
computed  by  comparing  the  amount  of  perfect  with 
abortive  fruit,  because  some  blossoms  must  have 
failed  to  form  even  abortive  fruit,  and  some  of  the 
abortive  fruits  dropped  before  the  grapes  were  gath- 
ered. It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  therefore,  that  the 
total  loss  of  fruit  from  the  spraying  is  not  repre- 
sented in  the  following  figures.  A  comparison  of 
the  fruit  of  the  two  vines  shows  the  following  re- 
sults : 

"1.  Counting  all  berries,  whether  perfect  or  abor- 
tive, the  average  weight  of  a  berry  from  the  sprayed 
vine  was  8.5  grains,  and  the  average  weight  of  a 
berry  from  the  check  vine  was  17.5  grains,  showing 
a  difference  of  106  per  cent. 

"2.  The  amount  of  abortive  berries  was  compared 
-with  the  perfect  berries  of  each  vine,  and  60  per  cent 
of  the  fruit  from  the  sprayed  vine  was  abortive, 
while  but  21  per  cent  of  the  fruit  from  the  check 
vine  was  abortive." 

Halsted*  has  also  made  observations  upon  the 
influence  of  weather  upon  pollination,  and  finds  that 
continued  wet  weather  at  blossoming  time  seems,  in 
most  cases,  to  lessen  the  setting  of  the  fruit. 

*Special  Bull.   C,  N.  J.   Exp.   Sta.   (1889),  and  Kept,  for  1889,   p.  230,  and 
Rept.   for  1890,  p.  330. 


Rain   at   Blooming -time.  339 

Card*  has  made  experiments  in  the  spraying  (to 
imitate  rain)  of  raspberries  :  "It  is  generally  sup- 
posed that  rainy  and  cloudy  weather  at  blossoming 
time  is  injurious  to  the  fruit  crop,  and  the  ques- 
tion occurs  whether  frequent  spraying  with  water  at 
this  period  would  produce  any  noticeable  effect.  On 
June  15,  1892,  spraying  was  begun  on  Caroline, 
Cuthbert  and  Turner  raspberries.  At  that  time  the 
Caroline  was  well  in  bloom,  while  the  others  were 
scarcely  beginning  to  bloom.  The  spraying  was  con- 
tinued until  July  first,  two  to  four  times  each  day 
when  the  weather  was  bright  and  pleasant,  but 
omitted  when  there  were  rains  to  take  its  place. 
Showers  were  frequent  during  the  period,  but  were 
well  interspersed  with  bright  weather  and  sunshine. 

"The  results  were  entirely  negative,  showing  no 
effect  whatever  from  the  spraying.  The  fruits  on 
this  portion  of  the  row  were  just  as  perfect  and 
abundant,  and  the  plants  appeared  to  suffer  no  more 
from  fungous  diseases  than  those  not  sprayed.  It  is 
to  be  noted,  however,  that  the  conditions  were  not 
the  same  as  those  present  in  continuous  cloudy 
weather,  for  during  much  of  this  time  the  weather 
was  bright,  and  insects  were  numerous,  and  continued 
working  among  the  blossoms  regardless  of  their  being 
wet,  so  that  opportunities  for  pollination  were  good. 
The  test  is  of  interest  as  showing  that  there  need  be 
no  fear  of  interfering  with  pollination  by  spraying  for 
insects  or  diseases,  even  if  necessary  to  do  it  at 
blossoming  time.  Of  course,  it  should  not  be  done 

*  Fred  W.  Card,  Bull.  57,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


340  The   Principles   of   Fruit -(/rowing. 

at   that   time,  ordinarily,  on    account    of   our    friends, 
the  bees." 

Coote  reports  that  peaches  under  glass  set  less 
fruit  when  sprayed  in  full  bloom  with  either  warm 
or  cold  water  than  they  did  when  pollinated  by 
means  of  a  brush.* 

RENOVATING   OLD   ORCHARDS. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  any  specific  method  of 
procedure  when  it  is  desired  to  renovate  an  old 
and  profitless  orchard.  It  is  first  necessary  to  dis- 
cover the  causes  of  its  unprofitableness  —  to  diagnose 
the  difficulty — and  then  to  go  straight  at  the  root 
of  the  evil.  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  an 
old,  neglected  orchard  cannot  be  expected  to  arrive 
at  the  profitable  condition  which  trees  enjoy  which 
have  received  proper  care  from  the  beginning,  no 
matter  how  thorough  the  means  of  recuperating  it 
may  be.  At  the  best,  one  can  only  make  an  apol- 
ogy for  long  years  of  neglect  and  mistakes.  It  is 
probable,  too,  that  the  trees  may  sometimes  become 
so  fixed  in  habit  that  no  amount  of  good  treatment 
can  make  them  bear  satisfactorily.  If  the  grower 
once  arrives  at  a  clear  conception  of  the  agencies 
which  make  for  productiveness,  he  will  readily  per- 
ceive what  the  trouble  with  his  orchard  may  be. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  first  thing 
to  do  to  revive  an  old  orchard  is  to  till  the  land. 

*  George  Coote,   Bull.    34,  Oregon  Exp.  Sta.  (1895).    This  bulletin  also  con- 
tains observations  on  the  pollen  production  of  varieties  of  fruits. 


Renovating    Old    Orchards.  341 

This  may  demand  a  heavy  trimming  up  of  the  trees 
in  order  to  allow  a  team  to  work  in  it  ;  and  in 
many  of  the  forest -like  old  orchards  it  may  be 
economy  to  cut  out  a  third  or  half  the  trees  at 
the  start.  Perhaps  the  roots  are  so  high  that  the 
land  cannot  be  plowed.  In  such  case,  the  laud  may 
often  be  broken  up  in  the  spring,  before  the  earth 
becomes  hard,  by  means  of  spading -harrows,  disc 
harrows,  spring -tooth  harrows,  and  similar  vigorous 
tools.  Or  corn  and  other  grain  may  be  dropped 
freely  in  holes  made  with  a  crow-bar,  and  the  hogs 
then  turned  in.  Let  them  root  for  it! 

The  earth -mulch  once  secured  to  save  the  mois- 
ture, it  may  next  be  necessary  to  apply  plant -food, 
either  in  the  form  of  stable  manures,  green  crops 
or  concentrated  fertilizers,  or  in  all  these  forms  to- 
gether. 

It  is  probable  that  the  trees  will  need  heavy 
pruning.  But  this  pruning  is  for  the  purpose  of 
correcting  the  results  of  years  of  neglect,  not  for 
the  purpose,  directly,  of  making  the  trees  bear.  In 
fact,  the  effect  of  heavy  pruning  is  apt  to  be  in 
the  very  opposite  direction  from  fruit -bearing;  but  it 
must  be  done  in  most  old  orchards  to  bring  the  trees 
back  into  manageable  shape,  to  produce  new  and 
fresh  wood  for  fruit -bearing,  and  to  thin  the  top 
sufficiently  to  allow  the  fruit  to  develop  to  something 
like  perfection  of  size  and  quality.  Weak  trees  may 
sometimes  be  re  -  invigorated  by  this  heavy  pruning 
alone.  Severe  heading -in  of  old  peach  trees  often 
accomplishes  this.  When  the  new  wood  is  once 


342  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

formed  and  the  tree  has  re-established  its  equilibrium, 
fruit -bearing  may  be  expected  to  begin,  if  other  con- 
ditions are  right. 

It  will  next  be  necessary  to  begin  hunting  for 
borers  and  other  squatters  and  campers.  The  trees 
will  very  likely  need  to  be  thoroughly  sprayed  to 
dislodge  the  army  of  hangers-on  which  has  held 
undisputed  possession  of  the  territory  for  a  decade 
or  two. 

If  the  trees  are  of  the  wrong  varieties  and  are 
still  vigorous,  it  will  probably  pay  to  top -graft 
them,  as  already  explained  (page  298),  if  they  are 
apples,  pears,  oranges,  or  cherries.  Old  and  poor 
peach,  apricot,  plum  and  quince  trees  had  better  be 
pulled  out. 

Why  are  orchards  barren? — It  may  be  suggestive 
if  the  matter  of  renovating  old  orchards  be  put  in 
the  form  of  this  question  and  categorical  answers 
be  given.  It  will  help  the  grower  to  diagnose  the 
trouble,  and  it  will  impress  him  with  the  fact  that 
he  is  the  man  to  solve  his  own  difficulties.  The 
commonest  reason  why  old  orchards  are  barren  is 
because  they  are  in  sod, — that  is,  because  they  are 
untilled  and  unfed.  There  are  men  enough  in  the 
country — although  they  have  been  greatly  in  the 
minority — who  have  boldly  taught  that  sodded  or- 
chards are  wrongly  managed  orchards.  They  have 
been  combatted  by  citations  of  orchards  which  are 
in  sod  but  are  still  productive.  They  have  replied 
that  in  some  cases,  for  a  combination  of  reasons, 
orchards  may  do  well  in  continuous  sod,  but  they 


Diagnosing   the    Trouble.  343 

have  still  fallen  back  upon  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  land  management,  and  have  said  that  the 
system  is  nevertheless  wrong.  Time  is  rapidly 
demonstrating  the  accuracy  of  their  prophecies.  It 
is  a  case  in  which  a  handful  of  philosophy  is  worth 
more  than  a  forkful  of  facts. 

If  one  asks  why  orchards  are  barren,  let  him 
fill  out  the  following  synopsis  by  way  of  review  of 
some  of  the  principles  which  are  enunciated  in  this 
book: 

The  nature  of  the  problem:  each  case  must  be  investi- 
gated by  itself;  teaching  must  be  along  the  line  of  general 
or  fundamental  principles,  not  statements  of  rules.  The  six 
general  factors  which  determine  productiveness  are: 

1.  THE   TILLAGE   FACTOR.— Soil  texture.      Fertility  as  influ- 
enced   by   (a)    fineness,    (6)    conditions     of    root-hold,  (c) 
life  processes,   (d)  air-holding  capacity,   (e]  water-holding 
capacity. 

Sod  in  orchards      Cover  crops. 

2.  THE    FERTILITY    FACTOR.— Our    conceptions    of    the    uses 
of    nitrogen,  potash,  phosphoric    acid,  etc.,    in    fruit-pro- 
duction. 

3.  THE   PRUNING  FACTOR. — The  relation  of  pruning  to  wood- 
growth  and  fruit-growth. 

4.  THE    VARIETY    FACTOR.— (a)    Unproductive    varieties,    (6) 
impotent  varieties. 

5.  THE  PROPAGATION  FACTOR. — The  individuality  of  the  tree, 
and  its  power  to  perpetuate  its  characteristics. 

6.  THE   PARASITE   FACTOR. — (a)  Fungi,  (6)  insects.       Spray- 
ing (Chapter  VII.). 


CHAPTER   VII. 

DISEASES,   INSECTS   AND   SPRAYING. 

IN  1886,  the  present  author  wrote  as  follows : 
"A  remedy  proposed  of  late  is  to  syringe  the  trees 
with  a  mixture  of  Paris  green  and  water,  very  early 
in  the  season,  while  the  young  apples  stand  erect. 
The  poison  lodges  in  the  'blossom  end'  and  de- 
stroys the  first  brood  of  worms.  Later,  when  the 
apples  turn  downward,  the  poison  is  washed  out  by 
the  rains.  This  remedy  was  proposed,  and  its  en- 
tire success  demonstrated,  by  Professor  A.  J.  Cook, 
of  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College.  A  tablespoon- 
ful  of  poison  to  a  gallon  of  water  is  sufficient."* 
This  represented  very  nearly  the  sum  of  knowledge 
respecting  the  spraying  of  orchards  at  that  time. 
Just  ten  years  later,  the  writer  had  a  part  in  put- 
ting before  the  public  a  manual  on  spraying,  t  which 
made  a  closely  printed  book  of  some  four  hun- 
dred pages.  These  contrasts  will  serve  to  show  how 
rapid  has  been  the  evolution  of  the  spraying  of 
plants  to  combat  insects  and  diseases.  This  sudden 
development  of  the  spraying  of  orchards  has  tended 

*«  Field  Notes  on  Apple  Culture,"  88. 

t  Lodeman,  «  The  Spraying  of  Plants."    This  work  should  be  consulted  when 
full  information  is  desired  upon  the  history  and  practice  of  spraying. 

(844) 


Effects   of  Spraying.  345 

to  magnify  its  importance  out  of  all  proportion  to 
other  accustomed  operations  of  fruit-growing.  The 
practice  has  been  hailed  as  a  positive  means  of  mak- 
ing orchards  fruitful.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, it  makes  orchards  fruitful  only  when  the  cause 
of  unfruitfuluess  is  incursions  of  insects  and  fungi. 
It  will  not  correct  the  faults  of  poor  tillage,  nor  of 
insufficient  plant-food,  nor  of  unprofitable  varieties, 
nor  of  neglect  in  pruning.  In  other  words,  it  is 
only  one  of  the  various  elements  which  enter  into 
successful  fruit-growing.  Wholly  aside  from  its 
direct  and  immediate  importance,  spraying  has  had 
an  emphatic  secondary  influence  in  waking  up  the 
horticulturist.  Any  movement  which  sets  a  man 
to  thinking  very  strongly  along  one  line  is  likely 
to  awaken  his  interest  in  cognate  subjects.  So  it 
happens  that  spraying  has  been  one  of  the  means 
of  rapidly  diffusing  a  better  knowledge  of  horticul- 
tural operations.  Some  of  the  directions  in  which 
this  secondary  influence  of  spraying  is  bound  to 
enlarge  the  horticultural  horizon  may  be  stated  as 
follows : 

1.  The  necessity  of  spraying  calls  the  attention 
of  the  grower  to  the  reasons  for  the  recent  incur- 
sions of  pests.  Spraying  was  unknown  in  his  boy- 
hood days.  Why  is  it  so  imperative  now?  This 
opens  a  volume  of  suggestion,  and  will  lead  the 
questioner  to  consider  the  fact  that  insects  and 
fungi  are  constantly  changing  their  habits  from  one 
plant  to  another,  as  the  native  plants  are  destroyed 
and  as  the  area  of  cultivated  ones  is  increased,  and 


346  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

that  the  continuing  commerce  with  all  parts  of  the 
world  constantly  exposes  us  to  new  dangers.  Pests 
which  have  latterly  broken  out  with  fury  have  been 
breeding  in  unobserved  numbers  in  the  neglected 
plantations  for  many  years.  The  ideals  of  the  fruit- 
grower are  also  higher  now  than  they  were  a  few 
years  ago.  Competition  has  increased,  and  the 
smallest  blemish  on  a  fruit  is  enough  to  throw  it 
out  of  a  first -class  article,  whilst  a  few  years  since 
it  might  have  passed  without  comment. 

2.  The    necessity    of    spraying    is   bound   to   force 
new    ideals    upon    the    grower.     Those    persons    who 
grow   in   a   large   way  for   the    general    and   more   or 
less   staple   markets  will  find  themselves  casting  about 
for    those    varieties    which    are    least    susceptible     to 
disease    and   insect    injury   and   which,  therefore,  need 
the    smallest    amount    of    attention    in     the    way    of 
sprays. 

3.  On   the  other  hand,  the  protection  which  spray- 
ing   affords    will    tend    to    bring    in   manj-   of   those 
good    old    varieties    wrhich,    like    the    Virgalieu    pear, 
have   almost    disappeared   from   cultivation  because   of 
disease.    Those  persons  who  are  growing  special  kinds 
of   fruit   for   particular  or  personal  markets  will  select 
the   varieties   of   ideal   qualities    almost    independently 
of   the   liability   to  insect  or  fungous  attacks,  because 
they    are    now     assured    that    these    attacks    can    be 
overcome.     On   the  one  hand,  therefore,  spraying  will 
force   the   selection   of   varieties  which  do  not  demand 
this   extra  care  and   treatment ;     and,  upon   the    other 
hand,   it   will    afford   the   grower  of   fruits   for  dessert 


Effects   of  Spraying.  347 

and  home  use   the   protection  which  he  has  heretofore 
not  enjoyed. 

4.  Spraying   is   bound   to   force   a   closer   study   of 
the     companionships    and     inter-relations     of     crops, 
fungi   and  insects.     It    will   teach   the   farmer   to   ob- 
serve  that  certain   pests   follow   the   round  of   certain 
crops,  and   that   when   he   breaks   such   a   rotation  he 
also   lessens   the  liability  of  attack.     It  will  also  force 
him  to  the  use   of   shorter   rotations,  for   it   is  a  very 
nimble   insect   or    fungus   which   can   keep   pace   with 
a    lively    and    resourceful    farmer.     He   will   come   to 
learn   that   the   best   treatment   of   the  anthracnose  on 
raspberries    may    be    a    short    rotation    rather    than 
spraying.     In   fact,    the    best     treatment    may    be    a 
combination    of    both ;     but    he   will   find   that   if   he 
reduces   the   number   of   crops   to   two   or   at   most  to 
three,  and   then   has   plantations   coming   on   in  other 
land,  he   will    suffer    comparatively   little.     The   same 
suggestion   is   extremely   applicable   to   the   cultivation 
of  strawberries. 

5.  Spraying   will    take    its    place    along   with   till- 
age, fertilizing,  pruning,  and  the  other  cardinal  opera- 
tions of  the  fruit  plantation. 

6.  Spraying  is  bound  to  force  better  care,  in  order 
that  the  crop  may  repay  the  extra  cost  of   the  treat- 
ment.    The   advent  of   the   potato -bug  has   no  doubt 
exercised   a   very   pronounced    influence   in   improving 
the  cultivation  of   the  potato,   and   it  is  probably  not 
too   much   to   hope   that   the   apple -scab   is   bound   to 
revolutionize     apple  -  growing      in     the     northeastern 
states. 


348  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

7.  The  necessity  of  spraying  must  create  a  greater 
watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  fruit-grower  for  new 
pests,  for  these  pests  are  all  the  time  appearing  from 
foreign   countries,    from  adjacent    states   or  geograph- 
ical  regions,   or   from   the   wild. 

8.  Inasmuch     as     every    new    subject    of     inquiry 
awakens  new  thoughts  and  expands  one's  sympathies, 
so   it    becomes    a   means   of   enlarging   and   educating 
the  man.     A  concentrated  invasion  of  the  army -worm 
is   one   of    the   very   best   means   of    waking    up    any 
farming  community  and  of  setting  every  man,  woman 
and  child  to  asking  questions  of  every  passer-by,  every 
agricultural   editor   and   teacher,   and   experiment   sta- 
tion.    The  good  effects  of  such  an  invasion  are  likely 
to  last   for  a   number  of   years.     It   is   surprising,  as 
one   thinks   of   it,  how  easily  people    are  scared  by  a 
bug!       A    strange     insect,    which    perhaps    does     not 
weigh    a   grain,  will  set   a  whole  community  of   able- 
bodied   men    agog,    and    may   cause    as    much    down- 
right fear  and  discussion  as  a  political  revolution. 

There  are  three  general  types  of  difficulties  which 
are  germane  to  the  discussion  in  this  chapter.  A 
classification  of  these  troubles  might  be  made  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  Attacks   by   insects. 

(a)  The  injuries  of  those  insects  which  eat 
or  chew  the  parts  of  the  plant,  and  which, 
therefore,  are  killed  by  the  application  of  poi- 
sons like  Paris  green.  Such  insects  are  the 
whole  tribe  of  caterpillars,  worms  and  beetles. 


Classification   of  Diseases.  349 

(b)  Attacks  of  insects  which  suck  their  food, 
and  which  are,  therefore,  destroyed  by  caustic 
applications  which  injure  the  bodies  of  the 
pests.  All  the  tribes  of  plant -lice  and  scale 
insects  belong  here,  and  for  these  the  kerosene 
emulsion,  resin  washes,  and  the  like,  are  the 
specifics. 

2.  Parasitic  fungous   diseases,   such   as   the   apple- 
scab,  black -rot   and  mildew  of   the  grape,  leaf -blight 
of    the    plum    and    pear,    black -knot,    and    the    like. 
These    diseases    are    characterized    by   definite    spots, 
discolorations  or  excrescences,  which  are  more  or  less 
scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  leaf,  fruit  or  branch. 
As  a   rule,  the   leaves   and   fruits  which  are    attacked 
have   a   tendency   to   drop   from   the   tree.      The   gen- 
eral   treatment    for   these    diseases   is    to    spray   with 
some   fungicidal   mixture,   like   the    Bordeaux   mixture 
or   the   ammoniacal   carbonate  of   copper.     The   treat- 
ment  is   useful    in   proportion   as   it   is   applied    early 
and    thoroughly.      After   the    fungus    once    gets   into 
the   tissues   of    the   host -plant,    it   is   difficult,   if    not 
impossible,   to   kill   it.     If,  however,   the   fungicide  is 
upon  the  plant  before  the  fungus  is,  the  parasite  may 
not  be  able  to  obtain  a  foothold.     Even  after  it  does 
obtain   a   foothold,    it   is    probable,  however,   that  the 
spray   will   check   its   spread  by  preventing   the  devel- 
opment  of   its   external   parts. 

3.  The    physiological    and    bacterial    diseases,    or 
those   which   are    termed    constitutional    troubles.     In 
these    cases,  there    are   rarely    any   definite    spots,  as 
in    the    attacks    of    parasitic    fungi,  but    the    entire 


350  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

leaf,  or  even  the  entire  plant,  or  a  large  part  of 
it,  shows  a  general  weakening  and  disease,  as  if 
there  were  some  cutting  off  of  the  accustomed 
source  of  nourishment.  Such  diseases  are  very  likely 
to  be  seen  in  a  general  yellowing  and  death  of  the 
leaf,  in  the  dying  of  the  leaf  along  the  main  veins 
and  around  the  edges,  showing  that  the  difficulty  is 
one  which  affects  the  entire  leaf,  and  not  any  par- 
ticular part  of  it.  In  general,  there  is  a  tendency 
for  the  foliage  in  plants  so  attacked  to  wither  up 
and  hang  on  the  tree  for  a  time.  The  peach  yel- 
lows and  pear  blight  are  diseases  of  this  kind. 
There  are  no  specific  treatments  for  troubles  of  this 
sort.  They  must  be  approached  by  what  physicians 
call  prophylaxis, — that  is,  by  methods  of  sanitation 
and  prevention.  The  diseased  plants  or  parts  are 
cut  away  and  burned.  All  those  conditions  which 
seem  to  favor  the  development  of  the  disease  are 
removed.  Varieties  which  are  particularly  susceptible 
are  discarded.  Careful  management  in  matters  of 
this  sort  is  often  much  more  important  than  any 
attempt  at  specific  treatment. 

Before  taking  up  a  discussion  of  spraying,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  best  treatment  for  borers  and 
similar  pests  is  to  watch  the  plants  carefully,  and 
to  dig  the  insects  out  at  least  twice  every  year. 
In  grounds  which  are  kept  in  clean  tillage,  such 
insects  are  rarely  as  troublesome  as  they  are  in 
neglected  areas.  This  is  both  because  the  insects 
find  places  of  lodgment  in  neglected  orchards,  and 
because  the  fruit-grower  is  so  seldom  present  that 


Moot    Troubles. 


351 


he  does  not  discover  them  in 
season.  The  various  protec- 
tive washes  which  are  ad- 
vised for  keeping  borers  out 
of  trees  are  of  very  doubtful 
efficiency. 

The  roots  of  fruit  trees 
and  brambles  are  very  likely 
to  be  affected  with  large  tuber- 
like  swellings  or  galls,  which 
have  been  the  subject  of  a 
good  deal  of  uneasiness  in 
various  parts  of  the  country. 
One  of  these  is  shown  in 
Fig.  64.  So  far  as  known, 
these  galls  are  not  conta- 
gious, and  the  amount  of  harm 
which  they  do  has  probably 
been  overstated.  The  root- 
knot  of  the  southern  states 
and  of  greenhouses  is  a 
wholly  different  trouble,  and 
is  the  work  of  a  nematode 
worm.  There  is  also  a  root 
swelling  or  gall  on  raspber- 
ries, due  to  the  work  of  an 
insect.  The  nematode  galls 
are  commonly  smaller  and 
softer  swellings,  and  occur  on 
the  younger  or  smaller  roots,  Fig-  M<  Root  gal1  on 

(From    Bull.    100,    Cornell    Exp. 

and   appear    not     to    occur    in      sta) 


352 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing, 


the      open     in     regions     where     the     ground    freezes 
deep.       This     subject     of    the     root -galls     has     been 
fully  gone  over   by    various   writers,  and   a   summary 
of   the  subject  is    presented    in    Bulletin  117  of    the 
Cornell    Experiment   Station  (although   this   subject  is 
by  no    means   well   understood),  from    which    the   fol- 
lowing  epitome    is   clipped :    "  The   conclusion    of    the 
wliole   matter,  then,    as    we    now 
understand  it,  is  that  these  root- 
galls  are  not  the  work  of   a  par- 
asite,    but      are      a      mal-forma- 
tion     following    some     injury    of 
the    root,    or     some    uncongenial 
condition    in    soil    or    treatment. 
The    galls   may  seriously  interfere 
with   the   nutrition  of    the   plant, 
in   many  cases   causing   it   to   be- 
come   weak    and    sickly.        It    is 
probable   that   the   trouble  is   not 
communicable,    and    that    cutting 
off  the  gall  averts  further  trouble 
from   that   source.     As  a   precau- 
tionary    measure,      however,     we 

much   prefer   to    plant  only  trees  with  perfectly  clean 
and  normal  roots." 

The  injuries  caused  by  hail  are  very  often  con- 
founded with  those  wrought  by  borers  and  other 
pests,  and  it  is  the  delight  of  many  persons  to  en- 
deavor to  puzzle  the  experimenters  and  teachers  with 
specimens  of  such  work.  Plum  limbs  injured  by 
hail -stones  are  shown  natural  size  in  Fig.  65. 


Fig.  65.    Injuries  by  hail- 
stones. 


Bagging   Fruits.  353 

When  it  is  desired  to  secure  extra  fine  fruit,  it  is 
a  good  plan  to  tie  up  the  fruits  in  paper  bags.  This 
keeps  away  the  insects  and  fungi  (although  the  white- 
ness of  the  bags  is  likely  to  attract  thieves  at  night), 
and  the  fruit  is  apt  to  ripen  earlier,  and  to  be  of 
higher  quality  because  of  the  warmth  which  the  bag 
gives.  If  it  is  desired  to  bring  out  the  blossoms  of  a 
tree  very  early  in  the  spring,  it  may  be  done  by 
tying  grocers'  bags  upon  the  spurs  when  the  buds 
first  begin  to  swell.  The  bagging  of  grapes  is  a  fre- 
quent practice  when  exhibition  or  test  specimens  are 
desired.  It  is  customary  to  pin  the  bags  upon  the 
clusters  when  the  grapes  are  a  third  to  a  half  grown. 
Bags  made  of  mosquito  netting  are  very  useful  later 
in  the  season,  when  it  is  desired  to  secure  the  full 
color  of  highly -colored  fruit. 

SPECIFIC    REMARKS    UPON    SPRAYING.* 

1.  Spraying  u  only  one  of  the  requisites  to  suc- 
cess in  fruit -raising. — Spraying  has  come  into  use 
so  quickly,  and  so  much  of  the  attention  of  teachers 
and  experiments  has  been  given  to  it,  that  many 
people  have  come  to  look  upon  it  as  the  means  of 
salvation  of  our  orchards.  If  spraying  is  to  have 
the  effect  of  obscuring  or  depreciating  the  impor- 
tance of  good  cultivation  and  fertilizing,  then  it 
might  better  never  have  come  into  being.  Trees 
must  grow  before  they  can  bear,  and  this  growth 
depends  upon  food  and  proper  conditions  of  soil,. 

*  Largely  adapted  from  Bull.  101,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 
X 


354  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

more  than  it  does  upon  the  accident  of  immunity 
from  insects  and  fungi.  There  are  four  fundamental 
operations  upon  which  all  permanent  success  in  most 
kinds  of  orchard  culture  depend,  and  their  importance 
lies  in  something:  like  the  following  order, —  tillage, 
fertilizing,  pruning,  spraying.  Spraying  is  the  last  to 
be  understood,  but  this  fact  should  not  obscure  the 
importance  of  the  other  three. 

2.  Spraying  is  an  insurance. —  There  are  always 
elements  of  risk  in  the  growing  of  fruit.  The  chief 
of  these  is  frost,  a  difficulty  which  can  never  be 
completely  under  our  control.  The  second  great  ele- 
ment of  risk  is  the  injury  wrought  by  insects  and 
fungi,  and  the  greater  part  of  this  injury  can  be 
averted  by  the  sprays.  Now,  it  is  impossible  to 
foretell  by  any  considerable  length  of  time,  if  any  or 
all  of  the  difficulties  which  are  liable  to  harass  the 
fruit -raiser  will  actually  appear.  One  does  not  know 
if  his  buildings  will  burn,  yet  he  insures  them.  We 
know  that  in  four  years  out  of  five,  some  serious 
injury  of  insects  or  fungi  may  be  confidently  ex- 
pected, and  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  insure  against 
it.  The  year  1894  was  a  season  of  remarkable  in- 
vasion of  apple- scab  fungus  in  New  York,  and  those 
persons  who  sprayed  their  orchards  thoroughly  had 
phenomenal  results.  These  experiences,  aided  by 
many  publications  upon  the  subject,  so  advertised 
the  value  of  the  sprays  that  much  more  spraying 
was  done  in  the  state  the  next  year  than  ever  before. 
But  it  so  happened,  probably  because  of  the  dry 
spring,  that  comparatively  few  invasions  of  enemies 


Every    Tear.  355 

occurred  the  next  year ;  and  the  sprays  generally 
gave  small  results.  There  arose,  therefore,  a  consid- 
erable indifference  or  even  opposition  to  spraying, 
which  may  be  regretted  when  years  of  serious  inva- 
sion arise.  It  is  a  common  fault  with  farmers  that 
they  draw  their  conclusions  from  the  behavior  or  ex- 
periences of  each  recurring  season,  and  do  not  con- 
sider the  aggregate  results  of  a  series  of  years. 
Every  operation  should  rest  upon  some  fundamental 
reason  or  philosophy,  rather  than  upon  any  single 
half -understood  experience. 

3.  Spraying    is    of    some    value    every    year,    upon 
apples,  pears,  plums,  quinces,  grapes,  and  various  other 
fruits. — Even   in   years  of   great   immunity,  nearly  all 
sprayed    orchards    carry  a    better    foliage   than    those 
which  are  untreated.     So,  wholly  aside  from  the  idea 
of   insuring  against  risk,  it  is  advisable  to  spray  for 
those  insects  which  are  more  or  less  abundant  every 
year.     Some   insects    and   diseases   appear  late   in  the 
season,  so  that   in   any  year  the  spray  may  be  needed 
at   some  epoch    in   the  season.     It  is,  perhaps,  useless 
to  urge  people   to   spray  their    orchards.      Those    per- 
sons who  will   not   spare  the  trees  this  much  of  their 
attention  will  not  be  likely  to  do  much  in  the  way  of 
tilling   and   fertilizing.       One   must   grasp   the    entire 
body  of   principles  of   orchard  management   before  he 
can  hope  for  permanent  rewards. 

4.  Spray    thoroughly,    or    not    at    all. — Fully    half 
the    spraying    which    is    commonly   done    is    a   waste 
of    time   and    material.       Squirting   a    few   quarts   of 
water  at  a  tree  as  one   hurries   past   it,  is  not   spray- 


356 


The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 


ing.  A  tree  is  thoroughly  and  honestly  sprayed  when 
it  is  wet  all  over,  on  all  the  branches  and  on  both 
sides  of  all  the  leaves.  An  insect  or  a  fungus  is 
not  killed  until  the  poison  is  placed  where  the  pest 
is.  Bugs  do  not  search  for  the  poison,  in  order 
that  they  may  accommodate  the  orchardist  by  com- 
mitting suicide.  The  one  spot  which  is  not  sprayed 
may  be  the  very  place  where  a  bud -moth  is  getting 

his  dinner.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  many 
fruit-growers  who  spray 
with  the  greatest  thor- 
oughness and  accuracy, 
and  they  are  the  ones 
who,  in  the  long  run, 
will  get  the  fruit. 

5.  Prepare  for  next 
year's  work  during  the 
ivinter. —  Secure  nozzles 
and  pumps,  and  fix  up 
the  wagons.  It  is  especially  important  that  the 
wagons  be  handy.  In  very  low  orchards,  a  low  truck 
may  be  needed,  and  in  some  cases  a  stone -boat  is 
best;  but  most  orchards  will  need  some  kind  of  a 
high  rig,  to  enable  the  operator  to  reach  the  tops  of 
the  trees.  Fig.  66  is  a  rig  used  by  T.  G.  Yeomaus 
&  Sons,  Wai  worth,  N.  Y.  The  tank  holds  300  gallons. 
The  pump  is  placed  on  the  front  of  the  rig  (in  the 
seat -rack),  and  one  man  drives  and  pumps.  The 
horses  are  stopped  at  every  tree.  Two  leads  of  hose 
are  used,  and  two  men  stand  on  the  rear  platform 


Fig.  66.     Rack  for  spraying  rig. 


Spraying   Rigs. 


357 


and  direct  the  nozzle.     These  men  have  ample  space, 

and    the    railing    gives    them    security.      A    boy   has 

been    employed    until    recently   to    agitate   the    liquid 

with  a  large  hoe.     These  three  men  and  the  boy  cost 

$5.50   per  day,  and   they  can  spray  thoroughly  about 

five   acres   of  full-grown   apple   trees   in   a   day.     An 

automatic   agitator  has   now  been   employed   in   place 

of  the  boy,  with  good 

results.  Another 

good      rig     is      that 

shown    in    Fig.     67, 

used      by      A.      H. 

Dutton,  Youngstown, 

N.    Y.      Many   other 

efficient          spraying 

outfits    are    in    use, 

but    these    two    will 

serve     to     illustrate 

the    kind    of      work 

which    is    needed   to 

be  done. 

The  greater  num- 
ber of  fruit-growers 
use  an  ordinary 
wagon,  with  box  or 

rack,  and  a  single  50 -gallon  barrel ;  but  if  one  has 
much  'spraying  to  do,  it  is  generally  economy  to 
use  a  larger  tank,  especially  if  water  has  to  be 
hauled  some  distance ;  and  more  thorough  work 
can  be  done  in  old  orchards  if  the  operator  is 
elevated  above  the  barrel.  The  use  of  long  pieces 


Fig.  67.     Rig  for  spraying. 


358 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


of    half -inch    gas -pipe    with    the    nozzle    attached   to 
the   end,  is    advisable    when    one    is    working    in    the 
tops   of    the   trees,  but    they    are   apt    to    be   a   nui- 
..    . ,_  sance   if    one   works 

from  the  ground. 
They  are  awkward 
if  more  than  ten 
feet  long.  We  gen- 
erally prefer  to  use 
a  bamboo  fishing- 
pole,  and  secure  the 
hose  to  it  near  its 
upper  end,  letting 
the  lower  part  of 
the  pole  remain  free. 
Most  operators  have 
insufficient  hose. 
For  work  in  old  or- 
chards, the  run  should  be  at  least  fifteen  feet  long. 
For  yards  and  ornamental  plants,  a  cart -like  rig, 
like  that  shown  in  Fig.  68,  is  handy  and  efficient, 
and  others  are  shown  in  Fig.  72.  A  home-made  rig 
for  spraying  strawberries  and  potatoes  is  seen  in 
Fig.  69.  It  is  simply  a  barrel  pump  mounted  on 
wheels,  with  three  Vermorel  nozzles  rigged  on  the 
tail-board,  so  as  to  cover  as  many  rows  of  plants. 
6.  The  style  of  pump  and  nozzle  to  be  used  de- 
pends almost  wliolly  upon  the  particular  kind  of  work 
to  be  done* — The  reader  will  now  see  that  the  advice 


Fig. 


Handy  outfltjtor  bushes    and   small 


*The   reader   should    consult    Lodeman's    "Spraying  of   Plants"  for   more 
specific  advice  on  this  subject. 


Spraying   Outfits. 


359 


as  to  machinery  must  depend  upon  the  specific  pur- 
pose for  which  the  appliances  are  to  be  used.  Appa- 
ratus which  was  devised  a  few  years  ago  for  the 
distribution  of  Paris  green  may  be  of  no  value  for 
the  application  of  such  a  thick  compound  as  the  Bor- 
deaux mixture.  Whatever  the  outfit  selected,  the 
pump  should  be  strong  and  powerful,  with  hard  brass 
working  parts,  and  capable  of  throwing  much  liquid 
with  great  force.  In  respect  to  nozzles,  it  may  be 
said  that  there  is  no  one  kind  which  is  best  for  all 
purposes.  It  is  desirable  that  the  liquid  should  reach 
the  plant  in  the  form  of  a  very  fine  mist ;  but  it 
is  just  as  important  that  the  nozzle  should  have  the 
power  of  throwing  the  liquid  to  the  desired  point: 
In  other  words,  there  are  two  elements  to  be  con- 
sidered,—  the  nozzle  must  have  carrying  power  and 
delivering  power.  A  fine  mist  at  the  orifice  of  the 
nozzle  is  of  no  use 
when  the  nozzle  is 
thirty  feet  short  of  the 
bug.  With  many  of 
the  modern  devices,  the 
man  who  holds  the  hose 
in  spraying  rigs  may 
stand  eight  or  nine  feet 
above  the  ground  and 
he  may  use  a  pole 
twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in 
length,  which  will  elevate  his  nozzle  something  like 
twenty -five  feet  from  the  ground;  but  many  of  our 
apple  trees  are  fifty  and  sixty  feet  high.  It  will 


Fig. 


Outfit    for   spraying    straw- 
berries and  potatoes. 


360  The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 

therefore  be  seen  that  the  liquid  must  carry  itself 
twenty -five  to  thirty  feet  beyond  the  nozzle.  For 
such  purposes,  a  nozzle  which  distributes  the  liquid 
in  a  spray  directly  from  its  orifice  is  of  small  use. 
A  nozzle  must  be  had  which  throws  a  more  or 
less  solid  stream,  and  the  stream  should  break  up 
when  it  reaches  its  destination.  It  will  therefore  be 
seen  that  it  is  practically  impossible  to  secure  a 
single  nozzle  which  is  best  for  all  purposes.  The 
grower  should  have  at  least  twro  styles,  one  for 
short  range  and  one  for  long  range.  The  Cyclone 
types  of  nozzles  are  generally  best  when  a  very 
fine  spray  is  desired  for  short  range  (consult 
Fig.  70). 

Remarks  similar  to  the  above  may  be  made  for 
pumps ;  that  is,  there  is  no  one  best  pump.  We 
might  divide  all  pumps  into  two  general  classes, — 
those  which  deliver  the  liquid  by  force  of  gravity, 

NOTE.  The  pictures  of  spraying  machinery  (Figs.  70  to  75,  pages  362  to  ;iG7) 
are  inserted  only  for  the  purpose  of  familiarizing  the  reader  with  a  number  of 
the  different  types  of  inventions  which  are  useful  in  the  work.  They  are  not 
inserted  for  the  purpose  of  recommending  any  of  the  devices,  and  there  are 
many  other  machines,  which  are  not  shown  in  the  engravings,  which  are 
equally  as  good. 

Fig.  70.  1,  2,  Cyclone  Nozzles.  3,  4,  Vermorel  Nozzles.  5,  Double  Vermorel. 
6,  Longshank  Vermorel.  7,  Bordeaux  Nozzle.  8,  Undersprayer  (Boekel).  9,  Y 
for  two  nozzles.  10,  Carnation  Nozzle  (Gould).  12,  same,  with  pole  attachment. 
11,  Masson  Nozzle  (Gould).  13,  McGowen.  14,  Graduated  Spray.  15,  16,  Lilly 
(Rumsey);  18,  same,  with  long  tube.  17,  Calla  (Gould).  19,  Boss  (Field  Force 
Pump  Co.).  20,  21,  22,  Nixon  Nozzles.  23,  24,  Winkle  Nozzle. 

Fig.  71.  1,  Galloway  Knapsack.  2,  Garfield  (Field  Force  Pump  Co.).  3, 
Deining  Kerosene  Emulsion  Knapsack.  4,  Eclipse  (Merrill  &  Morley).  5,  Ex- 
celsior (Stahl).  6,  Dandy  (Rumsey).  7,  Douglas  emulsion.  8,  Knapsack  at 
work.  9,  Obsolete  type  of  pump  on  a  knapsack  tank.  10,  11,  12,  Wonder  Pumps 
(Lewis). 


Pumps   and  Nozzles.  361 

as  many  of  the  potato  sprayers  do,  and  those  which 
deliver  it  by  the  force  of  the  pump.  We  have  now 
come  to  believe  that  the  force  of  gravity  is  not 
sufficient  to  do  the  work  well,  especially  when  Bor- 
deaux mixture  is  to  be  used.  Of  the  pump  machines, 
there  are  several  kinds,  as  those  which  derive  their 
force  from  the  suction  of  a  piston  and  valves,  and 
those  which  work  from  the  force  of  compressed  air. 
The  accompanying  illustrations  (Figs.  70-75,  pages 
362-367)  will  show  the  reader  some  of  the  forms  of 
pumps  which  are  now  manufactured,  and  will  per- 
haps enable  him  to  make  an  intelligent  choice  for 
his  purpose.  It  may  be  said  that  knapsack  pumps 
are  very  efficient,  not  only  because  they  are  power- 
ful for  their  size  but  also  because  they  enable  the 
operator  to  stand  very  close  to  his  work  ;  but  they 
are  not  adapted  to  work  upon  trees  nor,  in  fact, 
upon  large  areas  in  this  country,  because  labor  is 
too  high  priced.  For  small  areas,  for  experiment 

Fig.  72.  1,  Eureka  Knapsack  (Boekel).  2,  Success  Bucket  Pump  (Deming). 
3,  Common  Bucket  Pump.  4,  Dart  Bucket  Pump  (Gould).  5,  Success  Kerosene 
Bucket  Pump  (Deming).  6,  Aquanette  (Douglas).  7,  Double-acting  Aquanette 
(Douglas).  8,  Handy  cart  rig.  9,  Cart  Sprayer  (Field  Force  Pump  Co.).  10, 
Economy  Garden  Engine. 

Fig.  73.  1,  Barrel  Pump  (Field  Force  Pump  Co.).  2,  Barrel  Pump  (Douglas). 
3,  Columbian  (Douglas).  4,  Double-acting  Pump  (Gould).  5,  Nixon  Tripod 
Pump.  6,  McGowen's  Automatic  Poison  Injector.  7,  Clock  Pump,  and  Dash 
Agitator  (Gould).  8,  Bean  Pneumatic  Pump.  9,  Myer's  Lever  Bucket  Pump. 
10,  Barrel  Agitator  (Gould).  11,  Maud  S.  Pump  (Maud  S.  Co.). 

Fig.  74.  1,  Empire  (Field  Force  Pump  Co.).  2,  Eclipse  (Merrill  &  Morley).' 
3,  Pomona  (Gould).  4,  Double  Cylinder  (Rumsey).  5,  Geiger  Pump.  6,  Florida 
(Rumsey).  7,  Columbia  (Columbiaua  Co.). 

Fig.  75.  1,  Victor  Outfit  (Field  Force  Pump  Co.).  2,  Caswell  Sled  Sprayer. 
3,  Caswell  Geared  Sprayer.  4,  Wagon  Outfit  (Morrill  &  Morley) .  5,  Mounted 
Barrel  Sprayer.  6,  Eureka  Tank  Outfit  (Morrill  &  Morley). 


23  24 

Fig.  70.    Various  types  of  spraying  nozzles. 


Fig.  71.     Knapsack  and   syringe  pumps. 


Fig.  72.    Garden  sprayers  of  various  patterns. 


for  heavy  orchard  work. 


Fig.  74.    Barrel  outfits  for  heavy  work. 


Fig.  75.     Power  and  tank   outfits. 


368  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

purposes,  and  the  like,  they  are  exceedingly  useful 
and  handy.  The  syringe  and  bucket  pumps  are 
very  efficient  for  work  upon  a  small  scale,  and 
especially  when  it  is  desired  to  be  extra  thorough. 
The  greatest  difficulty  with  the  bucket  pump  is  that 
the  amount  of  material  which  can  be  carried  is  very 
small.  The  power  sprayers  (those  which  work  from 
the  wheel  of  the  vehicle)  are  useful  for  vineyards, 
dwarf  pears  and  low -growing  plants  ;  but,  as  a  rule, 
they  are  not  adapted  to  large  orchard  trees,  because 
enough  liquid  cannot  be  thrown  whilst  the  machine 
is  passing  a  tree  to  thoroughly  spray  it.  For  very 
large  areas  and  very  tall  trees  (as  street  trees)  steam- 
power  sprayers  are  coming  into  use. 

7.  The  farmer  should  know  what  he  wants  to  ~kill 
before  lie  begins  to  spray. — It  is  common  to  find  a 
man  who  is  going  at  spraying  with  enthusiasm,  but 
who  cannot  explain  a  single  definite  object  which 
he  has  in  view.  He  simply  knows  upon  general 
principles  that  spraying  is  useful.  To  such  a  man, 
spraying  is  spraying,  whether  he  uses  Paris  green, 
or  Bordeaux,  or  both,  or  neither  one;  and  his  results 
are  about  equal  to  his  knowledge.  There  is  no 
longer  an  excuse  for  such  ignorance,  for  all  the  lead- 
ing insects  and  fungi  have  received  more  or  less 
exact  treatment  in  the  publications  of  the  experiment 
stations.  The  state  of  knowledge  is  far  in  advance 
of  the  state  of  practice.  Many  fruit-growers  demand 
such  elementary  instruction  as  this: 

The  arsenites  (Paris  green  and  London  purple) 
are  used  to  kill  all  larvae  or  worms,  and  all  those 


When   to    Spray.  369 

insects  which  chew  the  leaves  or  shoots, —  such  as 
the  codlin-moth,  bud -moth,  canker-worm,  potato  - 
beetle,  tent -caterpillar,  and  the  like.  Kerosene  emul- 
sion* is  used  for  scale -insects  and  plant -lice.  Bor- 
deaux mixture  and  ammoniacal  carbonate  of  copper 
are  used  to  prevent  the  attacks  of  fungous  parasites, 
as  apple-scab,  leaf-blight  of  the  pear,  quince  and 
plum,  potato -blight,  and  such  like.  Bordeaux  is  the 
better  all-round  fungicide,  but  the  copper  carbonate 
solutiont  does  not  discolor  the  fruit,  and  may  there- 
fore be  used  if  very  late  sprayings  are  necessary. 

The  times  and  seasons  of  spraying  depend  entirely 
tipon  the  enemies  which  it  is  desired  to  reach,  and 
upon  the  weather. 

8.  The  time  to  spray  must  be  determined  for  each 
particular  case.  —  The  grower  himself  must  decide 
when  and  how  often  to  spray,  because  he  should 

*  KEROSENE    EMULSION. 

Hard  soap %  pound 

Boiling  water  (preferably  soft  water) 1  gallon 

Kerosene 2  gallons 

Dissolve  the  soap  in  the  water,  add  the  kerosene,  and  churn  with  a  pnmp 
for  5  to  10  minutes.  Dilute  4  to  25  times  before  applying.  Use  strong  emulsion 
(diluted  4  to  9  times)  in  winter  for  scale  Insects. 

Some  of  the  recent  pumps  emulsify  kerosene  and  water,  and  make  a  very 
efficient  spraying  material.  One  part  of  oil  to  4  or  5  of  water  is  safe  on  foliage, 
particularly  in  sunny  weather. 

t  AMMONIACAL    COPPEB    CARBONATE. 

Copper  carbonate 1  ounce 

Ammonia,  enough  to  dissolve  the  copper. 

Before  making  the  solution,  the  ammonia  should  be  prepared  as  follows : 
Use  26°  ammonia,  and  dilute  with  7  to  8  volumes  of  water.  Then  gradually 
add  the  necessary  amount  to  the  copper  carbonate  until  all  is  dissolved.  It  is 
best  treated  in  large  bottles,  and  in  them  it  will  keep  indefinitely.  Dilute  with. 
9  or  10  gallons  of  water.  For  same  purposes  as  the  Bordeaux  mixture. 


370  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

know  what  enemies  he  desires  to  reach.  If  he  has 
the  bud -moth,  he  should  spray  with  the  first  swell- 
ing of  the  buds,  and  if  he  has  the  plum -scale  he 
should  spray  in  the  winter.  But,  leaving  the  special 
insects  aside,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  for  the  two  staple 
enemies  — the  apple -scab  and  the  codlin-moth  —  at 
least  two  sprayings  should  be  given.  It  is  not  yet 

clearly  proved  that 
spraying  when  the 
1m>  is  dormant  has 
any  appreciable  ef- 
fect in  destroying  the 
apple-scab  fungus. 
As  a  general  state- 
ment one  may  say, 
spray  twice  upon  ap- 
ples and  pears,  once 
just  as  the  fruit-buds 

Fig.  76.    Showing  when  apple  tress  are  -,          •.  ,      ,     , 

ready  for  the  first  spraying.  break     Open     but     1)6- 

fore  the  flowers  ex- 
pand (Fig.  76),  and  again  just  as  the  last  blossoms  fall. 
In  both  cases,  use  a  combination  of  Bordeaux  mix- 
ture and  Paris  green.  The  first  spraying  is  for  the 
scab  fungus  in  particular,  and  for  this  the  Bordeaux 
is  used  ;  but  the  Paris  green  will  most  likely  be  of 
service  in  destroying  various  leaf -eating  insects.  The 
second  spraying  is  for  the  codlin-moth  in  particular, 
and  for  this  the  Paris  green  is  used  ;  but  the  Bor- 
deaux mixture  will  still  be  needed  for  the  apple -scab 
and  other  fungi.  Whether  or  not  it  is  necessary  to 
spray  again  will  depend  largely  upon  the  season. 


Stock   Solutions.  371 

The  operator  must  watch  matters  closely,  and  spray 
when  he  needs  to  do  so,  or  when  he  is  in  doubt. 
Two  sprayings  are  sufficient  for  the  codlin-moth,  and 
three  are  generally  sufficient  for  the  apple -scab. 
These  two  sprayings  constitute  the  insurance  which 
has  been  mentioned ;  thereafter,  the  grower  will  be 
able  to  see  more  definitely  what  is  needed.  These 
remarks  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  questions  which 
the  fruit-grower  must  consider. 

At  any  time  when  the  tree  is  in  growth,  Paris 
green  or  London  purple  should  be  used  with  lime, 
or,  better,  with  Bordeaux  mixture,  to  prevent  injury 
to  the  foliage.  One  pound  of  Paris  green  to  two 
hundred  gallons  of  water  is  the  most  serviceable  gen- 
eral formula  for  that  material ;  and  to  this  a  pound 
or  two  of  lime  may  be  added.  A  pound  of  Paris 
green  (or  London  purple)  may  be  added  to  two  hun- 
dred gallons  of  Bordeaux  mixture.  If  the  Paris  green 
is  made  into  a  paste  with  a  little  water,  it  mixes  bet- 
ter in  the  barrel. 

9.  Prepare  stock  solutions  for  the  Bordeaux  mix- 
ture,* rather  than  to  make  each  batch  in  the  quantities 

*  NORMAL    OE    1.6    PER    CENT    BORDEAUX   MIXTURE. 

Copper  sulf  ate  (blue  vitriol) 6  pounds 

Stoue  lime 4  pounds 

Water 40-50  gallons 

Dissolve  the  vitriol  by  putting  it  in  a  piece  of  coarse  burlap  and  hanging 
this  in  at  least  six  gallons  of  water,  so  that  the  bottom  of  the  bag  just  rests 
in  the  water.  Use  a  wooden  pail  or  tub ;  vitriol  eats  tin.  Pour  the  vitriol 
solution  into  the  spraying  barrel  and  fill  the  barrel  about  half  full  with  water. 
Slake  the  lime  and  dilute  it  to  make  10  to  15  gallons  of  milk  of  lime.  Pour 
this  into  the  barrel  through  a  strainer  and  add  water  to  make  40  to  50  gallons 
of  Bordeaux.  The  formula  4  pounds  of  vitriol  and  4  pounds  of  lime  to  make 
40  to  50  gallons  of  Bordeaux  is  apparently  equally  efficient.  If  Bordeaux  is  to 
be  used  on  peach  foliage,  apply  it  at  one-half  the  ordinary  strength. 


372  The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 

called  for  by  the  formula.— The  sulfate  of  copper  may 
be  put  into  solution  and  kept  in  this  condition  in- 
definitely, ready  for  use.  A  simple  method  is  to 
dissolve  forty  or  fifty  pounds  of  sulfate  in  as  many 
gallons  of  water,  pulverizing  the  material  and  hang- 
ing it  in  a  coffee -sack  in  the  top  of  the  barrel. 
A  gallon  of  water,  therefore,  means  a  pound  of 
sulfate.  The  lime  may  also  be  slaked  and  kept  in 
readiness  for  use.  Slake  it  into  the  creamy  condi- 
tion familiar  to  masons,  cover  lightly  with  water, 
and  then  close  the  box  or  vessel  to  prevent  the 
water  from  evaporating.  When  making  the  Bordeaux 
mixture,  pour  the  requisite  quantity  of  the  stock 
solution  of  sulfate  of  copper  into  the  barrel,  and 
then  dilute  with  four  or  five  times  the  quantity  of 
water.  Now  add  the  lime,  and  then  add  enough 
water  to  satisfy  the  formula.  If  the  ferrocyanide 
test  is  used,  place  a  spoonful  of  the  mixture  in  a 
saucer  or  plate,  and  add  a  drop  of  the  test  solu- 
tion. If  a  red  color  appears,  the  mixture  needs 
more  lime.  If  the  test  solution  is  added  directly 
to  a  tank  or  barrel  of  the  mixture,  the  color  re- 
action is  apt  to  be  lost  in  the  mass.  An  excess 
of  lime  ensures  the  safety  of  the  mixture. 

10.  How  can  one  tell  if  soluble  arsenic  is  present 
in  Paris  green?— It  is  the  soluble  arsenic  which 
burns  the  foliage.  This  is  present  in  London  pur- 
ple, but  good  Paris  green  should  have  little  of  it. 
Farmers  are  always  asking  how  they  can  determine 
if  Paris  green  contains  soluble  arsenic.  This  may 
be  determined  by  the  use  of  the  sulfur  test.  This 


Testing   Paris    Green.  373 

test  consists  in  adding  sulfuret  of  hydrogen  to  a 
solution  of  the  poison,  when,  if  arsenic  is  pres- 
ent, a  yellow  precipitate  (or  sediment)  will  be  thrown 
down. 

In  a  bottle  holding  five  or  six  ounces,  place  a 
quarter  of  a  teaspoonful  of  Paris  green.  Add  water 
until  the  bottle  is  nearly  full ;  shake  well,  and  then 
allow  the  material  to  settle.  The  clear  liquid  which 
remains  on  top  will  contain  what  soluble  arsenic 
may  be  present.  Carefully  turn  off  this  clear  liquid 
into  a  long,  slender  bottle,  or  test-tube,  add  two  or 
three  drops  of  muriatic  or  sulfuric  acid,  then  add 
a  tablespoonful  or  more  of  the  solution  of  sulfuret 
of  hydrogen.  If  any  arsenic  is  present  in  the  clear 
liquid,  a  yellow  discoloration  will  at  once  appear, 
and  if  the  liquid  is  allowed  to  stand  for  a  few 
minutes,  patches  or  grains  of  a  sand-like  material 
will  settle  to  the  bottom.  This  yellow  precipitate 
is  sulfide  of  arsenic.  If  very  little  soluble  arsenic 
is  present,  the  sulfuret  solution  should  be  warm 
when  used,  for  the  reaction  is  then  more  delicate. 
The  sulfuret  is  easily  made  by  anyone  who  has  had 
even  an  elementary  instruction  in  chemistry,  by  add- 
ing sulfuric  acid  to  iron  pyrites. 

This  sulfuretted  hydrogen  is  not  a  commercial 
preparation,  but  it  is  present  in  all  sulfur  mineral 
water,  and  the  water  sometimes  gives  the  test.  One 
can  make  sure  of  the  presence  of  this  material, 
for  its  odor  is  strong  and  offensive.  It  is  the  odor 
of  spoiled  eggs.  If  mineral  water  is  used,  it  should 
be  strong  and  fresh,  and  about  equal  in  quantity 


374  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

to  the  arsenic  solution ;  and  even  then  only  a 
faint  amber  discoloration  may  appear,  because  of 
the  small  amount  of  sulfur  in  the  water.  The  min- 
eral water  test,  therefore,  is  practically  out  of  the 
question. 

This  test  of  arsenic  determines  only  the  fact 
that  soluble  arsenic  is  or  is  not  present.  It  does 
not  determine  how  much  soluble  arsenic  there  may 
be ;  although  the  greater  or  less  amount  of  the 
yellow  color  on  precipitation  will  afford  a  compara- 
tive idea  of  the  amount  present  in  any  two  or 
more  samples. 

It  has  already  been  advised  to  use  lime  with 
Paris  green  or  London  purple  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  up  the  soluble  arsenic,  by  the  formation  of 
arsenite  of  lime.  If  this  is  done,  or  if  the  Bor- 
deaux mixture  is  used  with  the  arsenites,  it  will 
not  matter  if  the  poison  contains  soluble  arsenic. 

11.  How     can    one     determine    if    Paris    green     is 
pure? — It   sometimes   happens  that   material    which  is 
obtained  as  Paris  green  contains  no  arsenic.     Chrome 
green  may  be  sold   instead.      If   the   material   is   pure 
Paris   green,    it   will   quickly   and   completely   dissolve 
in  common  strong  ammonia,  giving  a  beautiful,   rich, 
dark  blue,  clear  liquid,  whilst   any  of   the  compounds 
which  would  ordinarily  be  substituted  for  Paris  green 
on  account   of   their   color   and   texture,   will   not   be- 
have   in    this    manner    in    ammonia.      Any   insoluble 
residue  is  impurity.      Chrome  green  will   not   dissolve 
in    ammonia. 

12.  What  becomes  of  the  arsenic  when  it  falls  upon 


Arsenic   in   the   Soil.  375 

the  soil? — With  the  action  of  the  rains  and  the  fall- 
ing of  the  leaves,  most  of  the  arsenic  which  is 
applied  to  trees  finally  reaches  the  soil.  What  then 
becomes  of  it  ?  If  lime  has  been  used  with  the 
spray,  the  arsenic  will  be  insoluble  when  it  falls 
upon  the  soil.  It  is  possible  that  the  organic  acids 
in  the  soil,  and  also  carbonic  acid,  may  dissolve  some 
of  the  arsenic,  but  it  would  be  almost  surely  made 
immediately  insoluble  again  by  combination  with  lime 
or  other  soil  constituents.  If  soluble  arsenic  is  placed 
on  the  soil,  it  probably  almost  immediately  goes  into 
insoluble  combinations,  and  remains  where  it  was 
placed  unless  slightly  washed  down  by  mere  mechan- 
ical means.  Now,  some  plants  appear  to  have  the 
power  to  take  up  very  minute  quantities  of  arsenic 
and  still  thrive — probably  so  minute  that  the  nicest 
chemical  test  can  scarcely  discover  it,— but  any  appre- 
ciable quantity  of  soluble  arsenic  in  the  soil  quickly 
destroys  the  roots.  If,  therefore,  the  grass  and  other 
plants  under  sprayed  trees  continue  to  live,  there 
need  be  no  fear  that  the  arsenic  will  injure  the  soil. 
A  study  of  the  destination  of  arsenic  which  has 
been  applied  to  the  soil  in  the  form  of  Paris  green 
was  made  at  the  Cornell  Station  (Bulletin  101),  from 
which  the  following  conclusions  were  drawn  :  "  The 
gist  of  the  whole  matter  then,  if  we  may  generalize 
from  these  tests,  is  that  the  arsenites  do  not  leach 
from  the  soil.  They  remain  where  they  fall,  the 
same  as  sand  does,  and  are  carried  down  only  when 
there  are  crevices  or  other  openings  in  the  soil,  and 
they  then  go  down  as  insoluble  compounds,  and  to 


376  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

a  slight  extent,  by  the  mere  mechanical  action  of 
the  water.  It  is  really  remarkable  that  sand  was 
such  a  perfect  filter  as  to  hold  the  great  quantity 
of  arsenic  above  a  depth  of  three  inches  for  over 
four  months.  If  the  soil  in  either  experiment  had 
been  a  homogenous  subsoil,  where  the  sun  could  not 
have  cracked  or  checked  it,  it  is  fair  to  conclude 
that  no  arsenic  could  have  penetrated  it."* 

Summary  \ — The  fruit-grower  may  desire  to  have 
a  very  brief  epitome  of  some  of  the  cardinal  sug- 
gestions touching  spraying  : 

1.  Spraying  is  only  one  of  several  means  or  opera- 
tions which  the  pomologist  must  master  if  he  aspires 
to    the    greatest   and    most    uniform    success.      Other 
fundamentally  important   requisites    are   tilling,   fertil- 
izing   and   pruning. 

2.  Spraying   is   not  necessary  to   successful  results 
every   year,  but  inasmuch  as  the  farmer  cannot  fore- 
tell  the   need   of    the   operation,    he   should   spray   as 
a   matter   of   insurance. 

3.  Spraying  is   almost  sure   to  be  of   some  benefit 
every   year,  particularly   upon   apple,  pear,  plum   and 
quince   trees,  and  upon  grape  vines. 

4.  Spraying   is   of    little   consequence   unless    care- 
fully  and   honestly   done.      The    spray   must   actually 
reach   every  point  which   it  is  intended   to  protect. 

5.  Prepare    for   the    year's    campaign    during    the 
previous   winter,    by   reading   the   last   teachings,    and 

*For  another  discussion  of  this  subject,  and  of  the  destination  of  copper 
In  the  soil,  see  Lodeman,  "The  Spraying  of  Plants,"  231-237. 


Summary.  377 

by  completing  pumps  and  appliances.     Give  particular 
attention   to    a   convenient   wagon   outfit. 

6.  The    Bordeaux   mixture    need   not   be    made   up 
at    each  using  in   the  exact  numbers  of  the  formula. 
The   copper  sulfate  may  be  permanently   dissolved  in 
water  and  the  lime  may   be   slaked.     When  the   mix- 
ture  is   prepared,  the   stock  solution  of   vitriol  is   di- 
luted,   the    lime    added,    and    the    tank   filled    to    the 
required   amount. 

7.  Spraying  is  of   small   account   unless   the  opera- 
tor  understands   precisely  what   he   sprays   for. 

8.  The    time   to    spray   is   when    the    operation   is 
needed   to   protect   the   plant.     This   will   vary,   there- 
fore,  with  every  season  and  every  different  pest.     In 
general,    apples   and   pears   need    spraying   twice,  first 
when    the    fruit -buds    open,    but    before    the    flowers 
expand,   and  again  when  the  blossoms  fall. 

9.  The  presence  of   soluble   arsenic  in  Paris  green 
may   be   determined   by    a    test   with   sulfuret    of   hy- 
drogen. 

10.  Pure    Paris    green   dissolves   in   ammonia,  giv- 
ing  a   rich,  deep   blue   liquid. 

NOTE. —  Home-made  arsenites  of  lime  and  soda  are  now  used  in  some  regions. 
Either  can  be  used  with  Bordeaux  mixture.  When  used  with  water,  it  is  safer 
to  add  freshly  slaked  lime. 

Arsenite  of  lime  is  made  by  boiling  one  pound  of  white  arsenic  in  two  to  four 
quarts  of  water  until  it  is  dissolved,  then  use  this  arsenic  solution  to  slake  two 
pounds  of  good  lime,  adding  water  if  necessary  to  slake  it ;  when  slaked,  add  water 
enough  to  make  two  gallons  of  this  stock  mixture.  This  may  be  kept  in  a  tight 
vessel  and  used  as  desired.  Thoroughly  stir  the  material  before  using.  For  most 
insects  one  quart  of  the  above  to  forty  gallons  of  water  will  be  sufficient. 

Arsenite  of  soda.  The  arsenic  (one  pound)  may  also  be  boiled  with  frur 
pounds  of  sal  soda  crystals  in  two  gallons  of  water  until  dissolved,  and  this  solu- 
tion used  in  the  same  manner  (with  lime). 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

HARVESTING   AND   MARKETING   FRUIT. 

ALTHOUGH  the  management  of  the  business  or 
commercial  side  of  fruit-growing  —  the  importance  of 
which  is  urged  in  the  first  chapter  —  is  very  largely 
a  matter  of  personal  temperament,  nevertheless  a 
few  general  remarks  by  way  of  suggestion  may  be 
given  to  the  subject.  The  business  part  of  fruit- 
growing is  chiefly  concerned  with  the  broad  subject 
of  marketing  the  fruit,  which  may  be  considered 
under  the  four  heads  of  picking,  packing,  storing 
and  shipping.  The  actual  selling  of  the  product  is 
an  enterprise  which  belongs  rather  to  the  merchant- 
man than  to  the  fruit-grower. 

PICKING    FRUITS. 

When  to  pick. — Just  when  and  how  the  fruit 
should  be  picked  for  best  market  results  depends 
very  largely  upon  the  species  or  variety  of  fruit, 
and  greatly,  also,  upon  the  distance  to  which  it  is 
to  be  shipped.  The  closer  and  better  the  market, 
the  riper  the  fruit  should  be  when  it  is  taken  from 
the  plant.  If  one  is  fortunate  enough  to  have  a 
special  or  personal  market,  delivering  the  fruit  to 
(378) 


When   Fruit  is  Fit   to   Pick.  379 

the  consumer  direct,  then  he  can  hope  to  retain 
this  market  only  by  sending  in  the  products  in  the 
very  finest  dessert  condition.  Such  consumers  are 
generally  willing  to  pay  a  sufficient  extra  price 
for  the  advantage  of  having  the  fruit  taken  from 
the  plant  when  it  is  in  its  highest  state  of  edible 
quality.  Most  serious  mistakes  are  constantly  made 
in  the  picking  of  blackberries,  for  example.  It  is 
ordinarily  considered  that  when  the  berries  are 
black  they  are  ripe,  but  such  is  not  the  case. 
They  are  fully  ripe  only  when  they  shake  from  the 
bushes  readily,  and  when  they  are  soft  and  free 
from  sharp  acidity.  In  this  condition  blackberries 
can  be  handled  direct  to  the  consumers  in  the 
local  market  which  is  only  a  few  miles  away ;  but 
they  could  not  be  shipped  by  rail.  The  strawberry 
is  ordinarily  picked  for  market  when  only  a  portion 
of  the  berry  is  really  ripe,  and  when  the  organic 
acids  are  still  too  sharp  and  austere  for  the  des- 
sert. A  strawberry  which  has  a  green  or  white  tip 
is  not  yet  in  fit  condition  to  pick,  if  one  is  ex- 
pecting to  reach  a  really  good  market. 

With  the  tree -fruits,  it  may  be  said  that  in 
general  the  samples  keep  longest  when  they  are 
picked  greenest,  but  they  suffer  thereby  in  point  of 
quality.  There  are  no  well-marked  lines  between 
greenness  or  immaturity,  ripeness  or  full  maturity, 
and  over  maturity  and  decay.  The  one  stage  passes 
into  the  other  insensibly,  and  it  is  a  part  of  the 
normal  chemical  history  of  the  fruit  that  it  should 
begin  an  incipient  breaking  down  and  disorganiza- 


380  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

tion  of  tissue  as  soon  as  the  ripening  process  is 
thoroughly  complete.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that 
the  riper  the  fruit,  the  more  nearly  it  approaches 
this  period  of  disorganization,  and  the  sooner  the 
breaking  down  of  the  tissues  may  be  expected  to 
begin.  When  the  fruit  is  picked  very  green,  how- 
ever, this  period  of  natural  disorganization  is  com- 
paratively remote.  On  the  other  hand,  fruits  which 
are  picked  very  green  are  not  yet  arrived  at  their 
most  edible  stage,  and  unless  they  are  kept  in  the 
most  favorable  conditions,  they  are  very  likely  to 
shrivel  and  to  become  unmarketable. 

In  the  case  of  apples,  it  is  generally  best  to 
pick  them,  if  they  are  to  be  stored  or  exported, 
just  as  they  have  arrived  at  their  full  size  and 
when  they  have  attained  only  a  part  of  their  full 
color.  Overripe  or  fully  ripe  fruits  must  be  sent 
to  the  market  at  once,  or  else  they  must  be  kept 
in  artificial  cold  storage  in  order  to  thoroughly  stop 
the  chemical  processes  within  the  fruit,  and  when 
they  are  taken  from  storage  they  are  very  likely  to 
soon  decay.  Apples  which  are  picked  slightly  green, 
however,  generally  continue  to  keep  well  after  being 
taken  from  cold  storage.  This  was  demonstrated  at 
the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  at  which  New  York 
apples  taken  from  cold  storage  remained  upon  the 
shelves  in  good  condition  for  several  weeks.* 

Pears,  on  the  other  hand,  nearly  always  lose 
quality  by  fully  ripening  upon  the  tree.  The  cells 
of  the  fruit  fill  up  with  gritty  mineral  matter,  much 

*  Annals  Hort.  for  1893,  67. 


Ripening  of  Pears.  381 

to  the  detriment  of  texture.  It  is  ordinarily  con- 
sidered that  the  best  time  to  pick  a  pear  of  any 
variety  is  just  as  soon  as  it  reaches  its  full  size 
and  before  it  has  begun  to  color.  In  most  varie- 
ties, this  stage  is  pretty  well  indicated  by  the  facil- 
ity with  which  the  fruit  stem  parts  from  the  spur. 
The  pear  is  taken  in  the  hollow  of  the  hand  and 
turned  up ;  if  the  stem  snaps  off  from  the  spur 
at  its  point  of  articulation,  the  fruit  is  generally 
considered  to  be-  ripe  enough  to  pick.  The  pears 
are  then  ripened  under  cover.  The  best  place  in 
which  to  ripen  them  is  a  rather  cool  but  dry  room, 
like  a  loft  or  a  chamber.  Here  they  are  piled  upon 
the  floor  or  upon  racks,  and  they  should  not  lie, 
for  the  best  results,  more  than  three  or  four  pears 
deep.  If  they  are  piled  too  deep,  the  lower  ones 
are  likely  to  be  indented  by  the  weight  of  those 
above  them.  The  room  should  be  kept  fairly  close. 
If  there  is  too  much  circulation  of  air,  and  if  the 
temperature  is  high,  the  pears  ripen  too  quickly, 
and  often  shrivel.  A  Bartlett  pear,  when  properly 
picked  and  handled,  ordinarily  requires  a  full  week 
in  which  to  ripen  up  to  its  best  quality,  and  the 
ripening  process  may  often  be  continued  consider- 
ably longer  than  this  by  picking  the  fruit  early 
and  keeping  it  cool.  Kieffers,  especially  if  grown 
in  the  north,  seem  to  ripen  best  if  they  are  stored 
in  bulk,  like  beans,  two  or  three  feet  deep,  or  even 
in  barrels,  and  the  ripening  process  is  ordinarily 
two  to  three  weeks  long.  If  they  are  given  this 
long  time  in  which  to  mature,  the  quality  may  be 


382  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

expected  to  be  very  much  better  than  it  is  in  the 
general  run  of  samples. 

A  peach  is  fit  to  pick  when  it  is  full  grown 
and  has  begun  to  develop  its  characteristic  color. 
Peaches  and  apricots  do  not  ordinarily  color  up 
well  after  they  are  picked,  although  plums  usually 
will  do  so,  especially  the  Japanese  plums,  which  may 
be  picked  very  green  and  yet  develop  a  high  color. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  describe  that  period  of  ma- 
turity at  which  a  peach  is  ready  for  picking.  An 
experienced  picker  will  take  the  fruit  softly  in  his 
hand  and  press  the  ball  of  his  thumb  very  lightly 
upon  the  side,  and  if  the  fruit  has  a  somewhat 
springy  feeling,  it  is  ready  to  take  off  the  tree. 
This  pressure  is  never  sufficient  to  leave  any  mark 
upon  the  fruit.  Pinching  a  peach  will  almost  always 
spoil  it.  If  the  peach  is  too  green,  it  will  feel 
hard  and  stone -like.  If  it  is  too  soft,  it  will  simply 
indent,  and  will  not  have  the  elastic  feeling  which 
is  mentioned. 

In  the  case  of  cherries  and  plums,  it  is  very 
important  that  the  fruits  be  picked  just  before 
they  have  reached  their  condition  of  most  edible 
quality.  This  is  largely  because  the  fruit- rot  fun- 
gus is  very  likely  to  destroy  the  fruits  at  the  time 
of  their  ripening,  especially  upon  those  varieties 
which  are  particularly  subject  to  the  disorder. 
Amongst  plums,  the  Lombard  is  one  of  the  most 
seriously  attacked  ;  and  amongst  cherries,  nearly  all 
the  white -fleshed  ones,  like  Governor  Wood  and 
Napoleon,  are  greatly  subject  to  injury.  If  the 


Rot   of  Cherries.  383 

weather  at  picking  time  gives  promise  of  being 
close  and  warm  or  muggy,  then  it  is  exceedingly 
important  that  the  fruit  should  be  picked  early.  In 
sweet  cherries,  a  delay  of  a  few  hours  will  some- 
times result  in  the  loss  of  an  entire  crop  from  the 
fruit -rot  fungus.  Cherries  and  plums  should  always 
be  picked,  if  possible,  when  they  are  perfectly  dry. 
This  is  especially  true  of  the  sweet  cherries.  If 
they  are  picked  when  they  are  wet,  and  put  into 
boxes  or  baskets  in  this  condition,  they  will  be 
almost  certain  to  decay  before  reaching  the  market, 
unless  the  weather  remains  very  cool. 

This  fruit -rot  fungus  is  very  serious  upon  many 
stone  fruits.  In  cherries,  "the  losses  from  this  dis- 
ease which  have  come  under  my  observation  are 
invariably  the  result  of  letting  the  fruit  hang  on 
the  trees  till  ripe,  and  then  the  rot  is  very  active; 
but  cherries  should  be  picked  a  few  days  before 
ripe,  before  they  soften,  and  then  the  rot  does  not 
seriously  affect  them.  An  illustration  of  this  point, 
which  is  a  most  important  one,  was  brought  to  my 
notice  the  present  season.  The  last  week  of  June, 
in  eastern  New  York,  was  very  hot  and  close, 
with  showers  every  day  or  two.  The  cherries  were 
then  ripening,  and  the  conditions  were  favorable  for 
the  rot  to  spread.  In  one  orchard,  from  which 
several  tons  of  cherries  were  shipped  that  week, 
there  was  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  destroyed  by  the  rot,  while  in  another  or- 
chard a  few  miles  distant  at  least  ten  tons  of  the 
same  varieties  were  ruined  on  the  trees.  In  the  first 


384  The    Principles    of  Fruit -growing. 

orchard  the  fruit  was  picked  before  it  had  ripened, 
and  all  that  was  fit  was  taken  off  as  soon  as  the 
trees  dried  off  after  a  shower;  in  the  other  or- 
chard it  was  left  till  nearly  ripe,  and  one -half  to 
two -thirds  of  the  crop  was  lost  before  the  fruit 
could  be  picked.  So  rapid  is  the  work  of  this 
fungus  at  this  period,  that  the  owner  of  the  orchard 
told  me  that  he  lost  three  tons  of  one  variety  in 
oue  night.  It  might  be  added  that  the  orchard  first 
mentioned  was  a  much  stronger  one,  as  it  was  in 
cultivation,  while  the  last  had  been  in  sod  for  years, 
and  the  general  debility  and  neglect  of  the  trees 
made  them  good  subjects  for  the  attacks  of  rot  or 
any  other  disease."* 

How  to  pick. — In  picking  the  soft  fruits,  like  cher- 
ries and  plums,  the  operator  grasps  the  stem  and 
not  the  fruit  itself.  In  this  way  he  does  not  remove 
the  delicate  bloom,  and  does  not  injure  the  fruit 
when  pulling  it  from  the  spur.  In  the  case  of 
grapes,  it  is  likewise  very  important,  especially  in 
those  which  have  a  heavy  bloom,  that  the  picker 
should  not  grasp  the  bunch  itself,  but  should  take 
the  cluster  by  the  stem  and  snip  it  off  with  shears 
(which  are  made  for  the  purpose).  In  the  case  of 
peaches  and  apricots,  this  precaution,  of  course,  need 
not  be  taken,  because  the  stem  does  not  naturally 
adhere  to  the  fruit  ;  but  the  operator  must  be  very 
careful,  when  picking  these  fruits,  not  to  grasp  them 
too  tightly,  otherwise  he  will  bruise  them  and  cause 

*G.  H.  Powell,  Bull.  98,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta.  410. 


Leave   the   Stems    On.  385 

them  to  become  discolored.  The  picker  must  always 
bear  in  mind  that  every  evidence  of  fruits  having 
been  touched  by  the  hands  detracts  from  their  market 
value.  Strawberries  should  always  be  picked  with 
the  stems  on.  A  berry  which  has  the  hull  pulled 
out  is  not  fit  for  the  market.  The  picker  should 
grasp  the  stem  itself  and  pinch  it  off  between  the 
thumb  and  the  finger. 

Upon  all  fruits  which  grow  on  a  distinct  pedicel 
or  stem,  this  stem  should  be  allowed  to  remain. 
Pears  which  have  the  stems  pulled  out  or  broken 
in  two  are  never  first-class  fruits,  no  matter  how 
good  and  uniform  the  specimens  otherwise  may 
be.  This  is  even  true  of  apples  when  they  are 
put  up  for  the  finest  dessert  trade ;  but  as  they 
are  ordinarily  handled,  very  little  attention  is  paid 
to  leaving  the  stems  on.  Leaving  the  stems  on  is 
vital  to  the  handling  of  plums  and  cherries,  not 
only  because  the  market  demands  it,  but  because, 
the  fruit  will  be  very  likely  to  rot  if  the  stems 
are  pulled  out,  and  they  will  not  pack  so  snugly, 
and  will  not  stand  the  transportation  so  well.  The 
stems  of  cherries,  plums  and  currants,  and  the  hulls 
of  strawberries,  serve  a  most  useful  purpose  in  hold- 
ing the  fruits  in  place  in  the  box  or  basket,  and 
in  taking  up  the  slack  from  settling  or  shrinkage. 

A  word  may  be  expected  in  respect  to  the  ex- 
act methods  of  handling  fruit  in  the  field.  It  i& 
only  in  rare  cases  that  fruit  should  be  sent  to  the 
market  in  the  packages  in  which  the  pickers  place 
it  ;  that  is,  it  will  need  to  be  sorted  from  these 


386  Tlic    Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

packages    into    others,    and    this    sorting    should    be 
done  in  a  cool    shed  or  packing  room.     In  the  pick- 


Fig.  77.    Dundee  berry  stand. 

ing  of  small  fruits,  various  kinds  of   trays  or  stands 
are  used.     In  strawberries,  it  is  important  that  these 
stands   should   have   legs,  so   that   when   the   package 
is    set    down     it    will    not    crush     the    berries,    and 
neither    will     it    be    so    likely    to    tip    over.       Such 
stands  are  handy  for  grapes, 
or    for    any    kind    of    berry 
fruits    as    well.        Fig.    77 
shows    a      type     of    berry- 
stand   which  is  largely  used 
in    parts    of    New   York   for 
the    picking    of    raspberries 
and       blackberries.         This 
stand    holds    six    one -quart 
boxes,      and       a       tier      is 

easily     stacked    upon     another,     one      tier     or     layer 
of    stands    breaking    joints     with    those    above     and 


Fig.  78.     Berry-tniy  made  of  sheet 
iron,  with  band-iron  handle. 


Berry -stands.  387 

below.      Other    types    of    berry -stands    are    shown    in 
Figs.  78,  79  and  80. 

In  the  picking  of  tree-fruits,  it  is  ordinarily 
best  to  use  a  basket  and  not  a  bag,  for  in  spite 
of  all  one  can  do,  the  fruit  is  bruised  when  it  is 
thrown  into  a  bag  which  is  slung  over  the  shoulder. 
In  the  picking  of  peaches,  it  is  customary  to  pick 
in  something  like  a  Climax  basket,  or  better  still, 
in  the  old-fashioned  tall,  round -top  peck  baskets, 
such  as  are  standards  in  New  Jersey  and  other 
places.  These  baskets  are  held  at  about  one's 


Fig.  79.    Berry-stand  on  legs. 


-    Tray  for  berry  boxes- 


middle  by  dropping  them  into  a  hoop  which  is 
held  upon  the  person  by  a  strap  running  over  the 
shoulder  and  under  one  arm  (Fig.  81).  This  allows 
the  picker  the  free  use  of  both  arms,  and  obviates 
the  necessity  of  his  being  obliged  to  stretch  or 
stoop  to  deposit  the  fruit  after  he  has  picked  it. 
The  baskets  are  filled  about  level  full,  all  the  fruits 
which  are  ripe  enough  for  picking  being  saved  in- 
discriminately. The  basket  is  then  set  in  the  shade 
alongside  the  tree  from  which  the  fruit  was  taken, 
and  at  intervals  a  wagon  or  cart  collects  the  bas- 
kets and  takes  them  to  the  packing  -room,  where 


388  TJic   Princi.pl  fs   of  Fruit-growing. 

the  fruit  is  sorted,  graded  and  packed.  In  the 
picking  of  apples,  the  best  method  is  ordinarily  to 
use  a  half-bushel,  round -bottomed  splint  (not  woven) 
basket  which  lias  a  swinging  handle.  If  this  basket 


Kig.  81.    Picking  pe; 


is  lined  on  the  inside  with  thick  cloth  or  burlaps, 
it  will  answer  the  purpose  all  the  bettor.  This 
basket  is  provided  with  a  strong  wire  hook,  that 
can  be  hung  upon  a  limb,  allowing  the  picker  to 


Baskets   and    Wagons.  389 

have  both  hands  free.  There  are  various  special 
practices  to  facilitate  apple -picking,  which  are  not 
proper  subjects  for  discussion  in  a  general  fruit- 
book. 

There  are  various  appliances  which  may  be  used 
in  the  field  to  facilitate  the  picking  of  fruit,  some 
of  which  may  be  briefly  mentioned.  In  the  first 
place,  the  fruit  picker  should  provide  himself  with 
-an  ample  supply  of  crates  or  baskets,  or  whatever 
other  receptacle  may  be  used  in  the  field.  These 
receptacles  should  be  strong  and  durable,  so  that 
they  may  be  used  year  after  year ;  this  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  baskets  and  crates  which  are  used 
for  the  picking  of  the  heavier  fruits,  like  pears, 
apples  and  grapes.  It  is  generally  advisable  to  take 
the  fruits  to  the  packing  house  in  the  very  baskets  or 
boxes  in  which  they  are  placed  from  the  tree,  thereby 
avoiding  unnecessary  handling  of  the  fruit.  In  the 
case  of  winter  apples,  however,  it  is  sometimes  ad- 
missible to  carefully  pour  the  apples  from  the  round- 
bottomed  baskets,  into  which  they  are  picked,  into 
bushel  baskets,  or  sometimes  into  crates  such  as  are 
used  for  potatoes.  In  any  case  it  is  always  advis- 
able, in  the  best  quality  of  fruit,  to  have  all  these 
baskets  or  crates  lined  with  burlaps. 

The  best  wagons  for  use  in  orchards  are  those 
which  are  of  the  platform  style,  with  low  and  very 
broad -tired  wheels,  and  the  platform  extending  over 
the  wheels.  Such  wagons  are  not  only  capable  of 
carrying  a  very  large  load,  but  do  not  cut  up  the 
ground ;  they  are  easily  drawn  and  managed,  and 


390  The    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

they  escape  the  limbs  in  low  orchards.  It  is  desir- 
able that  the  front  wheels  should  turn  under  the 
platform,  in  order  that  the  wagon  may  be  turned  at 
sharp  angles.  The  practice  of  loading  apples  and 
other  fruits  into  a  wagon  box  in  bulk  cannot  be 
too  strongly  deprecated.  It  is  only  admissible  when 
tiie  apples  are  of  low  quality,  and  are  fit  only  for 
sale  as  second  and  third  grades,  or  for  manufacture 
into  cider,  evaporated  stock,  or  other  products. 

The  styles  of  ladders  to  be  used  must  depend 
directly  upon  the  height  of  the  trees.  In  old  apple 
orchards,  it  is  nearly  always  essential  to  have  long 
and  light  ladders,  with  a  sharp  or  peaked  top,  which 
can  be  run  directly  up  into  the  top  of  the  tree  and 
find  lodgment  against  the  branches.  Extension  lad- 
ders are  also  used,  but  they  are  usually  more  cum- 
bersome and  more  difficult  to  manage  than  the  light 
pointed -topped  implement  which  is  here  mentioned. 
In  most  other  orchards,  however,  a  step-ladder  of 
the  ordinary  pattern,  but  perhaps  somewhat  taller 
(running  from  ten  to  even  twelve  feet  high),  is  all 
that  will  be  required.  This  ladder  should  have  a 
flat  top,  and  also  a  movable  shelf  upon  its  back, 
where  baskets  may  be  placed.  The  facility  of  pick- 
ing fruit  is  very  much  increased  if  the  trees  have 
been  well  trained  and  pruned.  Dwarf  pears  should 
rarely  reach  a  height  of  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  ;  and  if  pear  and  apple  trees  are  planted  suffi- 
ciently far  apart,  and  are  kept  open  at  the  base,  the 
pickers  can  reach  most  of  the  fruit  by  climbing.  In 
the  picking  of  apples  and  pears,  there  is  nothing 


Fig.  82.     Various   types  of  ladder  arrangements. 


392  Thf    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

which  answers  the  purpose  so  well  as  a  strong,  nim- 
ble hoy  who  is  not  afraid  to  climb.  In  many  or- 
chards, the  lon«,'  and  cumbersome  ladders  may  be 
almost  entirely  dispensed  with  if  this  requisite  is  at 
hand.  For  getting  into  the  tops  of  fruit  trees,  a 
short  and  very  light  ladder  with  three  or  four  rungs 
is  exceedingly  useful.  This  little  ladder  will  also  aid 
greatly  in  the  gathering  of  fruit  which  hangs  upon 
the  lower  limbs  just  out  of  the  reach  of  the  picker. 
The  ladder  is  stood  upright  and  the  picker  mounts 
it  quickly,  crossing  his  legs  over  the  top  one  or  two 
rungs,  and  holds  himself  erect  by  grasping  a  limb 
above  his  head,  as  shown  in  the  illustration  (2, 
Fig.  82,  page  391).  This  is  a  type  of  ladder  which 
is  much  used  by  professional  top -grafters. 

The  various  kinds  of  fruit -picking  devices  which 
r.re  upon  the  market  are  useful  only  for  gathering 
the  few  outlying  fruits  upon  the  tall  and  far-reaching 
limbs.  It  is  never  practicable  to  use  them  for  the 
picking  of  the  entire  crop,  except  in  those  very  rare 
cases  in  which  the  crop  is  small  and  all  the  fruits 
are  fit  for  the  dessert  trade.  The  labor  of  picking 
with  these  devices  is  slow  and  onerous.  One  of  the 
best  types  of  fruit -pickers  is  shown  at  5  in  Fig.  83, 

XOTK.-A  variety  of  ladders  is  shown  in  Fig.  82.  No.  1  is  a  light  ladder 
with  a  wheel,  allowing  it  to  be  wheeled  like  a  wheelbarrow  when  it  is 
shut  up,  as  at  4  ;  2,  the  short  ladder,  not  requiring  support,  described  in  the 
text  above  ;  3,  a  German  device  for  securing  a  support  to  a  ladder,  allow- 
ing the  two  supporting  legs  to  be  shut  together  ;  5,  a  pointed  ladder,  with 
support;  (i,  similar  ladder,  without  support  (very  useful  in  tall  trees);  7,  plat- 
form ladder  ;  8,  wagon  rigged  for  picking,  the  planks  y,  y  (upon  which  the 
picker  stands)  being  swung  around  lengthwise  the  box  when  driving  from 
tree  to  tree. 


Pig.  83.    Different  implements  for  picking  fruits 


Principle*   of  Fruit-growing. 


whicli  may  be  made  l»y  any  handy  man.  The  fruits 
are  hooked  off  by  the  Y-shaped  trigger  at  the  top, 

and  are  delivered  to 
the  picker  through 
the  canvas  or  bur- 
laps bag  which  ex- 
tends along  the 
handle.  Of  course, 
only  one  fruit 
should  be  allowed 
to  go  through  the 
bag  at  a  time. 
Another  very  handy 
device  is  the  fin- 
ger picker,  illus- 
trated at  No.  13. 

This  may  be  made  by  any  handy  tinsmith,  who,  how- 
ever, should  be  cautioned  against  making  it  too  heavy 
and  cumbersome.  In  this  instance,  the  apple  is  deliv- 
ered to  the  picker  by  taking  down  the  instrument. 
The  disadvantage  of  this  tool  is  that  the  fingers  are 
apt  to  spring  with  nse,  and  the  apple  will  pull 
through  between  them  rather  than  be  pulled  off. 
There  are  also  devices  in  use  for  catching  the  fruit 
when  it  is  shaken  from  the  tree  or  bush.  These  are 
usually  upon  the  principle  of  a  soft  cloth  hopper 


k's   apple  picker. 


Fruit  -picking    Machines . 


395 


(see  Fig.  84).  Such  machines  are  often  very  use- 
ful in  the  gathering  of  black  currants  and  goose- 
berries. For  these  purposes  inverted  umbrellas  are 
sometimes  used.  Cherries  are  sometimes  gathered  by 
being  shaken  into  the  machines  used  for  the  catch- 
ing of  curculios.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  these 


Fig.  85.     Batting  the  berries. 

means  of  gathering  fruit  are  advisable  only  when 
the  fruit  is  to  be  manufactured  into  some  commer- 
cial product,  or  when  the  price  of  fruit  is  extremely 
small. 

To  lessen  the  cost  of  harvesting,  and  to  over- 
come the,  difficulty  of  securing  pickers  in  remote 
places,  a  harvester  for  raspberries  has  come  into  use 


M6  Tin1    I'riiiriplrs    of   Fruit -growing. 

in    New    York    state. *     This    is    a    canvas    tray,    made 
by    stretching    the    cloth    over    a    light    wooden    frame 
about    three    feet     wide    and    four    or    five    feet    long. 
At  the    bottom,   the    frame    projects   upwards    at   right 
angles    to    the    body    of    the    frame     to    a    dis- 
A       tance  of    five    or    six    inches,    to    catch   the    ber- 
ries   as    they  fall    upon    the  canvas.     A  wooden 
Lj|n        shoe  or  runner  is  placed  oil    the    bottom  of    the 
apparatus,    to    allow    the    operator    to    slide    it 
along  from  bush  to  bush,  as  shown  in  Fig.  8.1. 
A    long    wire    hook    (Fig.    86)    is    used    to    pull 
the     bushes    over    the    tray   or    to     lift    up     the 
fallen    canes,   whilst    with    the    other    hand    the 
operator    deftly    cuffs    off    the    berries    with     a 
paddle    of    wood    or    of    wire  covered    with  can- 
vas   and  'about    the  size    of    a    butter    ladle. 

The    harvester    is    used    only   for    the    gath- 
ering of    berries    which   are  to    be    evaporated. 
The   berries   are  allowed    to    become  fully    ripe, 
so  that    they  fall    easily,   and    the 
patch    is    gone    over    about    three 
times.      Much  litter  falls  with  the 

Ki-    sti.      Batter's   hook.  T  .  ,       J         ,,    .  ,., 

berries,  but  this  is  readily  re- 
moved by  running  the  dried  fruit  through  a  fanning 
mill.  There  are  few  growers  who  use  this  harvester 
exclusively.  It  is  often  brought  into  requisition  for 
the  last  picking,  or  in  seasons  of  low  prices,  and  it 
also  has  a  most  stimulating  effect  upon  a  lot  of  dis- 
affected berry  pickers.  The  device  was  first  perfected 
by  Mr.  Benedict,  of  Dundee,  New  York,  although 

*  Bulletin   100,   Cornell   Exp.   Sta. 


Keeping   Fruit   After   Picking.  397 

the    idea  seems   to   have  originated   with    Uriah    Hair, 
of   the   same    place. 

After  fruit  is  picked,  it  is  very  important  that  it 
should  be  kept  cool  and  away  from  the  direct  sun. 
This  is  particularly  important  with  the  soft  and 
berry -like  fruits,  like  grapes,  strawberries,  cherries 
and  peaches.  The  fruits  not  only  ripen  up  rapidly 
after  they  are  picked  if  the  sun  strikes  them,  but 
they  may  also  become  so  warm  that  they  will  not 
withstand  shipment.  It  is  ordinarily  best  to  pick  the 
perishable  fruits  early  in  the  morning,  if  they  are 
dry,  and  then  to  pack  them  up  tight  and  send  them 
directly  to  the  railway  station  ;  or,  if  they  have  be- 
come too  warm,  or  if  it  is  desired  to  delay  the  ship- 
ment, then  they  should  be  put  in  the  cellar  or  a 
cold  storage  in  order  to  reduce  them  to  a  low  tem- 
perature. If  the  soft  fruits,  like  strawberries  and 
raspberries,  are  treated  in  this  way,  they  will  ordi- 
narily endure  shipment  best  if  they  are  sent  in  tight, 
un ventilated  crates.  Apples  ripen  up  very  rapidly  in 
the  pile  if  they  are  exposed  directly  to  the  rays  of 
the  sun.  It  is  always  well,  therefore,  if  they  are 
piled  in  the  field,  to  place  them  on  the  shady  side  of 
the  tree,  if  possible;  but,  no  doubt,  the  very  best 
results  in  long -keeping  qualities  are  obtained  when 
the  apples  are  taken  directly  from  the  trees  to  a  cool 
room  and  there  kept  in  storage,  where  the  ripening 
process  is  wholly  or  partially  checked.  This  is  espe- 
'cially  important  if  they  are  to  be  shipped  long  dis- 
tances, and  particularly  if  they  are  to  be  exported-.  If 
the  weather  is  cool  and  somewhat  dull  at  the  picking 


398  The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 

time,  this  precaution  is  not  so  essential  as  it  is  in 
falls  which  arc  dry,  bright  and  warm. 

Keeping    records    with    the   pickers.—  There    are    va- 
rious methods  of  keeping  accounts  with  berry  pickers. 
Perhaps    the    commonest    mode    in  large  patches  is  a 
simple  ticket,    like    Fig.    87,    which    is    given    to    the 
picker     in     exchange     for     the 
berries     which     are    delivered. 
There    are     tickets    of    various 

6  denominations,  the  figures  rep- 

resenting   quarts,    so    that    any 
number  of   quarts  can  be    rep- 
resented    by    combinations     of 
c.  H.  Gouia.  tickets.     These    tickets    are    so 

I     often  lost  that  they  may  soon 

Fig.  87.    Picker's  ti,ket.J       COme     tO       be       a       nilisailCC,       al- 

though     some     growers     prefer 

them  for  this  very  reason,  for  all  that  are  lost  do 
not  have  to  be  redeemed.  Several  growers,  there- 
fore, have  designed  tickets  which  can  be  tied  to 
the  person  by  a  string,  which  bear  the  picker's 
name,  and  in  which  the  numbers  are  cancelled  by 
a  punch.  Two  good  styles  are  shown,  half-size, 
in  Figs.  88  and  89.  In  the  latter  are  two 
styles  of  punch  marks,  representing  different  fore- 
men. Other  growers  abolish  all  ticket  systems  out- 
right, and  keep  a  book  account  with  each  picker ; 
and,  what  is  better,  they  pa}'  by  the  pound.  A 
small,  flat-topped  grocers'  scale  may  be  taken  to  the 
shed  in  the  berry  field.  Each  picker  is  numbered, 
and  he  picks  in  an  eight -pound  or  ten -pound  Climax 


Accounts 


Picfar.s. 


399 


grape  basket.  As  he  comes  to  the  shed,  he  slips  his 
number  into  the  basket  on  a  bit  of  card  or  splint, 
and  he  sees  the  basket  weighed  and  the  credit  given; 
or,  if  the  picker  has  no  suspicions,  the  foreman  may 
gather  the  baskets  from  the  field.  Growers  generally 
pay  2  cents  a  quart  for  raspberries,  or  1.6  cents  a 


'"$*£]>£& 

Pig.  88.    Picker's  tag. 


U    HAIR  A  SON. 


Fig.  89.     Picker's  tag. 


pound  (since  a  quart  weighs  1/4  pounds),  but  the 
price  can  be  dropped  to  1  cent  a  pound  in  some 
varieties  and  in  good  picking. 

In  the  picking  of  fruits,  it  is  always  essential  that 
each  picker  finish  the  particular  job  to  which  he  is 
assigned.  This  is  especially  important  in  the  small- 
fruits,  for  the  picker  must  follow  a  certain  row,  and 


Picking   and   Packing.  401 

not  be  wandering  over  the  plantation  in  search  of 
the  best  picking.  Fig.  90  shows  the  method  of 
"lining  off"  cranberry  pickers. 

Necessity  of  Jiand-picking.—It  would  seem  to  be 
unnecessary  to  say  that  all  fruits  which  are  to  be 
put  into  a  good  market  should  be  hand-picked,  and 
yet  it  is  a  fact  that  a  great  quantity  of  the  apples, 
and  even  of  the  pears  and  plums,  which  go  into 
our  common  markets  are  shaken  from  the  trees. 
It  is  impracticable  to  grade  or  sort  such  fruits, 
because  the  proportion  of  jammed  or  bruised  fruits 
is  so  great  that  the  samples  of  first  quality  are 
found  to  be  very  few.  It  is  an  axiom  in  fruit- 
marketing  that  only  the  best  fruit  pays  for  careful 
packing,  and  that  the  poor  fruit  is  rarely  worth  the 
trouble  of  grading.  The  better  the  fruit,  therefore, 
and  the  more  carefully  it  is  picked,  the  more  profit- 
able may  be  the  attention  which  is  given  to  sort- 
ing and  packing. 

THE     PACKING     OF     FRUIT. 

What  is  first- class  fruit? — The  very  first  thing  to 
be  considered  in  the  packing  of  fruit  is  to  deter- 
mine what  first-class  fruit  is.  Even  amongst  those 
persons  who  sell  apples  for  the  export  trade,  there 
is  very  little  exact  practice  in  the  sorting  of  the 
apples.  It  seems  to  be  ordinarily  considered  that 
any  fruit  which  is  sound  enough  to  reach  its  desti- 
nation is  good  enough  to  be  called  first-class ; 
but  such  standard  is  a  serious  error.  The  fruit 


HI  I 

:  &  3  *  -2 


s  i-s"  £ 

£  _  s  •"  £  j 

Ullll 

-  .s  'i  !  I  ~ 

T    «,     O     .     t>.  *t 


What   is   First-class   Fruit  f  403 

should  not  only  reach  its  destination  in  approxi- 
mately the  same  condition  in  which  it  leaves  the 
orchard,  but  it  should  also  be  attractive  and  uni- 
form in  quality,  and  capable  of  being  held  for  some 
time  when  it  reaches  the  wholesaler.  Mere  sound- 
ness or  perfectness  of  form  and  freedom  from  all 
bruises  and  blemishes  do  not  constitute  a  first -class 
apple.  All  the  specimens  should  grade  up  to  a 
.more  or  less  uniform  standard  of  size  and  shape, 
and  any  fruit  which  is  ever  so  perfect  in  itseli' 
would  not  be  considered  to  be  first-class  amongst 
fruits  which  average  either  very  much  larger  or 
very  much  smaller.  In  other  words,  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  a  perfect  specimen  and  a  first- 
class  parcel.  Perhaps  it  will  answer  all  require- 
ments to  define  first-class  fruit  as  a  quantity  of 
sufficient  amount  to  be  quoted  in  the  market  (as 
one  box,  basket  or  barrel),  which  is  thoroughly  well 
packed  and  of  one  variety,  and  in  which  the  indi- 
vidual specimens  are  very  nearly  uniform  in  size, 
shape  and  degree  of  ripeness,  are  possessed  of  full- 
length  stems  (in  stem-bearing  fruits),  are  free  from 
bruises  and  injuries  and  all  insect  and  fungous 
blemishes,  are  fully  characteristic  of  the  variety, 
and  are  in  that  stage  of  maturity  which  the  market 
demands  at  the  time  of  their  exposure  for  sale. 

This  is  well  illustrated  in  Fig.  91,  which  repre- 
sents a  tray  of  winter  apples.  It  shows  a  variety  of 
apples  of  second  and  third  class,  and  yet  they  were 
taken  from  a  lot  which  sold  for  first-class  fruit.  It 
may  be  well  to  designate  the  particular  points  in 


404 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


these  apples  which  throw  them  out  of  a  first-class 
sample.  Beginning  with  the  front  row,  the  specimen 
upon  the  left  is  scabbed  in  two  or  three  places  ;  the 
next  one  has  a  worm -hole  about  the  stem,  but  it  is 
otherwise  perfect ;  the  third  one  has  a  worm -hole  in 
the  top,  and  is  also  shrivelled  ;  the  end  one  on  the 
right  was  a  perfect  apple  as  it  hung  on  the  tree,  but 
when  shaken  off  it  struck  a  limb  or  the  ground,  and 


Kig.  1)2.     First-class  sample. 

was  flattened  on  one  side.  Beginning  with  the  left 
apple  upon  the  back  row,  it  will  be  seen  that  there 
is  a  bad  insect  blemish  upon  the  side ;  the  second 
one  has  a  puncture  in  the  side ;  the  third  one,  on 
top,  is  perfect  in  itself  (as  a  specimen),  but  it  is  of 
very  inferior  size  for  apples  of  its  class ;  the  last 
apple  upon  the  right  has  a  worm -hole  in  the  blos- 
som end,  and  is  withered.  Fig.  92  shows  a  first- 
class  sample.  Fig.  93  (page  408)  shows  a  barrel  of 


The   Number  of  Grades.  405 

Ben  Davis  apples  just  opened,  in  which  the  different 
specimens  are  of  uniform  size  and  quality. 

Essentially  these  same  remarks  may  be  applied  to 
other  kinds  of  fruits.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  the  more  personal  and  local  the  market,  the 
more  exacting  that  market  is,  and  therefore  the 
greater  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  details  of 
sorting  and  grading.  It  should  be  especially  im- 
pressed upon  the  horticulturist  that  uniformity  in 
size  is  quite  as  important  to  a  package  of  fruits  as 
excellence  in  intrinsic  quality  of  the  individual  speci- 
mens. The  reader  will  also  recall  that  the  proper 
grading  of  fruit  is  greatly  facilitated  by  thinning  the 
fruits  on  the  trees,  a  subject  which  has  received 
specific  treatment  in  Chapter  VI.  It  would  seem  to 
be  unnecessary  to  add  that  the  mechanical  sorters 
now  recommended  in  some  quarters  are  wholly  un- 
adapted  to  use  for  any  but  the  rougher  and  cheaper 
qualities  of  fruits  and  for  potatoes.  High  quality 
apples  which  come  through  the  sorter  apparently 
without  blemish  usually  show  discolored  spots  in  a 
few  days,  and  softer  fruits  are  often  ruined. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  if  fruit  is  sorted,  two 
grades  will  result, —  the  first-class  grade  and  the  re- 
mainder. In  small-fruits,  these  two  grades  —  known 
as  the  firsts  and  the  seconds  —  usually  comprise  the 
entire  crop,  and  the  same  may  be  true  of  tree  fruits 
which  have  been  well  grown  and  rigorously  thinned. 
In  most  cases,  however,  tree  fruits  are  made  into 
three  grades,  the  third  grade  being  generally  known 
as  culls.  Persons  who  sort  their  fruit  as  carefully 


406  The   Principle*   of  Fruit-growing. 

as  our  definition  requires  will  do  well  to  designate 
the  first  grade  by  some  special  name  or  mark,  as 
"Selected,"  "First  Choice,"  and  the  like,  in  order  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  common  type  of  so-called 
first -class  fruit.  In  such  thorough  sorting,  four 
grades  are  often  necessary,  in  order  to  properly  pre- 
sent the  fruit  to  the  various  types  of  consumers.  It 
should  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  better  the 
fruit  as  it  hangs  on  the  tree  or  vine,  the  fewer  will 
be  the  grades  in  the  packing -house. 

The  packing  of  fruit,  therefore,  comprises  two 
rather  distinct  elements,  —  the  sorting  or  grading 
(which  has  now  been  considered),  and  the  placing 
of  the  fruits  in  the  final  receptacles,  or  packing 
proper,  to  which  we  now  proceed. 

How  to  pack. — The  method  of  packing  must  de- 
pend very  greatly  upon  the  market  whieh  is  to  be 
reached,  upon  the  quality  of  the  fruit,  and  upon  the 
package  which  is  to  be  used.  Ordinarily,  women  are 
better  fruit -packers  than  men,  especially  for  the  deli- 
cate fruits,  like  peaches,  the  berries  and  grapes. 
Each  individual  fruit  or  cluster  should  be  placed  in 
the  package  separately  and  by  hand.  This  is  em- 
phatically true  of  all  the  tender  and  perishable  des- 
sert fruits.  The  specimens  are  ordinarily  laid  in  con- 
centric rows,  the  first  row  being  placed  on  the  out- 
side of  the  bottom  of  the  basket,  and  other  cir- 
cles filling  in  the  layer  until  it  is  full.  Other  tiers 
are  then  placed  in  the  same  way.  The  top  layer 
is  placed  with  special  care,  the  stems  of  the  fruits 
being  all  laid  one  way,  and  the  same  side  of  the 


Facing  of  Fruit.  407 

fruit  (ordinarily  the  cheek)  showing  uppermost.  The 
top  of  the  basket  should  present  a  uniform  and 
finished  appearance,  and  should  be  slightly  rounding 
or  oval  in  shape.  There  will  ordinarily  be  a  differ- 
ence of  from  five  to  ten  cents  a  basket  between  good 
plums  or  peaches  sent  to  the  market  as  they  are 
picked  from  the  tree,  and  those  which  are  properly 
packed  and  finished  up. 

.,  When  packing  apples  and  pears  in  kegs  or  bar- 
rels, it  is  not  always  necessary  to  place  every  in- 
dividual; and  yet,  if  the  packages  are  to  go  abroad, 
it  is  ordinarily  best  to  take  this  pains,  laying  all 
the  fruits  in  tiers,  for  thereby  there  is  tight  packing 
and  little  shrinkage;  and  when  one  handles  his  fruit 
so  carefully  he  is  constantly  throwing  out  the  in- 
ferior samples.  As  apples  are  ordinarily  handled  for 
our  domestic  trade,  however,  they  are  simply  faced 
upon  the  two  ends.  They  ought  always  to  be  faced 
upon  one  end.  This  facing  is  done  by  selecting 
apples  of  uniform  grade  and  placing  them  in  con- 
centric rows  on  the  lower  head  or  end  of  the  bar- 
rel. About  two  or  three  tiers  should  be  faced,  the 
rings  of  one  tier  breaking  joints  with  those  of  an- 
other. The  stem  end  should  point  towards  the  head 
of  the  barrel.  The  apples  in  the  middle  of  the 
barrel  may  be  turned  in  from  a  round -bottomed, 
swing -handled  basket,  which  can  be  let  directly  into 
the  barrel  (or  from  a  smaller  basket  which  will 
turn  in  the  barrel),  and  after  every  basket  is  emptied 
the  barrel  should  be  lightly  shaken  to  settle  the 
fruits.  It  is  generally  advisable  to  face  the  upper 


408  The    Principles    of   Fruit -growing. 

head  of  the  barrel  before  the  head  is  plaeed  in, 
but  this  is  not  always  done.  The  barrel  is  ordi- 
narily headed  up,  then  ended  over,  and  the  oppo- 
site or  originally -faced  end  is  stenciled,  and  this  is 
the  end  which  the  dealer  is  supposed  to  open.  It 


Fig.  'J.'i.    Barrel  of  first-class  apples  opened  up  in  the  market. 

very  frequently  happens,  however,  that  the  dealer, 
in  order  to  test  the  packing,  opens  the  wrong  or 
unintended  end  of  the  barrel ;  and  in  selling  large 
lots  of  apples  two  or  three  barrels  are  sometimes 
used  as  samples,  and  the  entire  contents  are  rolled 
out  upon  the  packing  house  or  auction  room  floor. 


Packing   Apples  for   Export.  409 

A  barrel  of   winter  apples   properly  faced  and  packed 
is   shown   just   as   it   was   opened   in  Fig.  93. 

The  greatest  care  should  be  taken  in  the  packing 
of  apples  for  export,  because  they  are  subjected  to 
long  and  trying  transportation,  the  freight  and  inci- 
dental rates  are  high,  and  only  the  very  best  fruits 
will  pay  transportation  and  other  expenses.  One 
reason  why  the  foreign  market  has  recently  been  so 
poor  for  American  apples  is  because  a  great  amount 
of  poorly -sorted  and  poorly -packed  fruit  has  been  ex- 
ported. The  following  suggestions  for  the  exporting 
of  apples  are  condensed  from  a  report  made  by 
George  T.  Powell,  of  New  York  state,  to  the  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  for  that  state,  and  will  be 
found  to  be  very  useful  :* 

"Kind  of  fruit  wanted. — Only  good  fruit  is  wanted  abroad. 
The  fruit-grower  should  begin  months  in  advance  to  secure 
good  quality,  by  practicing  good  tillage,  efficient  fertilizing, 
and  thorough  spraying.  Apples  grown  on  trees  which  have 
imperfect  (insect-eaten  and  fungous-infested)  foliage  generally 
fail  to  carry  in  good  condition  to  Europe.  Standard  fall  and 
winter  varieties  are  most  in  demand  in  the  export  trade. 
Duchess  and  Twenty  Ounce  generally  sell  well  if  picked  while 
hard.  Alexander  is  too  soft.  Baldwin,  Greening,  Spy,  King, 
Spitzenburgh,  Hubbardston  (Nonesuch),  Newtown  (Pippin),  Peck's 
Pleasant,  and  late  Russets  are  popular  varieties.  Jonathan 
and  other  medium-sized  apples  are  especially  desired.  Red 
apples  sell  better  than  solid  green  ones,  as  a  rale.  Soft 
summer  varieties  do  not  ship  well. 

"Picking  the  fruit. — Apples  intended  for  export  should  be 
picked  earlier  than  for  the  home  trade,  but  not  when  green 

*  Suggestions  as  to  the  Picking  and  Packing  of  Fruit  for  the  Foreign 
and  Home  Markets,  Albany,  1896. 


410  TTif    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 

and  immature.  It  is  largely  the  beauty  of  the  American 
apple  which  sells  it;  therefore,  the  color  should  be  well  ad- 
vanced before  the  apple  is  picked.  Hand  pick  the  finest 
very  carefully.  It  is  advisable  to  barrel  and  ship  as  soon 
as  picked,  rather  than  to  store  the  fruit  for  some  days  in 
piles  in  the  orchard. 

"Packing. — Sort  carefully.  Very  fine  fruit  should  be  marked 
'Fancy'  or  'Selected,'  with  four  X's  (XXXX),  and  with  the 
grower's  or  shipper's  name  or  initials.  The  second  grade 
should  be  good,  and  marked  with  three  X's.  Nothing  lower 
than  this  should  be  exported.  The  English  law  requires  that 
the  package  be  plainly  marked  'American  Produce.'  Use  only 
standard  size  barrels.  Put  in  a  double  row  of  facers.  Apples 
somewhat  soft  in  texture,  like  Greenings,  may  be  pressed  down 
a  full  inch  in  barreling,  but  hard  apples  should  not  be 
squeezed  so  much.  Nail  the  barrels  securely.  If  the  apples 
become  loose  in  transit,  they  will  be  very  much  injured. 

"Methods  of  sale. — Apples  are  sold  in  the  English  markets 
by  sample.  Two  barrels  of  a  lot  are  selected,  one  opened 
to  show  the  packing,  the  other  turned  out  so  that  every 
apple  can  be  seen.  The  lot  is  then  sold  at  auction.  The 
first  day  of  sale  they  are  sold  as  ' sound.'  These  are  de- 
livered within  twenty-four  hours.  Any  loose  barrels,  known 
as  'slacks'  or  'slack  packed,'  and  any  from  which  the  juice 
is  running,  called  'wets,'  are  closed  out  at  the  succeeding  sale." 

Shiftless  packing  really  accounts  for  more  than 
one -half  of  all  the  unsatisfactory  returns  from  fruit. 
This  fact  is  commonly  acknowledged  to  be  true  by 
the  fruit-growers  themselves,  and  it  is  annually  im- 
pressed upon  them  by  teachers,  buyers  and  con- 
sumers, and  yet  it  is  an  astonishing  fact  that  the 
great  majority  of  all  our  fruits  are  either  not  packed 
and  graded  at  all,  or  else  the  work  is  done  in  the 
most  careless  manner.  The  eastern  fruits  are  often 
better  in  quality  than  the  Calif ornian  fruits,  and 


German   Advice.  411 

being  grown  near  the  consumer,  they  ought  to  com- 
mand a  superior  price  ;  and  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  be- 
cause of  the  better  packing  and  sorting  of  the  Cali- 
fornia product,  it  drives  the  home  fruit  from  the 
markets.  The  better  packing  of  this  Calif  ornian 
product  has  arisen  from  the  fact  that  transportation 
rates  are  such  an  important  item  in  the  marketing  of 
the  fruits,  and  time  of  transit  is  so  long,  that  only 
the  highest -priced  and  soundest  fruit  can  bring  the 
consignor  any  profit  after  the  expenses  and  risks  are 
deducted.  It  is  always  found  that  the  farther  fruit 
has  to  be  shipped,  the  greater  is  the  care  exercised 
in  the  grading  and  packing. 

Whilst  we,  with  the  best  of  reasons,  are  con- 
stantly deploring  the  shiftless  attention  given  to  the 
packing  of  our  fruit,  the  fruit-growers  of  Europe  are 
impressed  with  the  excellent  condition  in  which  our 
apples  often  arrive  in  their  markets.  The  following 
extract  is  from  a  German  paper  of  recent  date  :  * 

"Although  during  the  last  few  years  repeated  at- 
tention has  been  called,  by  those  in  authority,  to  the 
development  of  the  German  fruit  industry  as  a  pos- 
sible means  of  enlarging  the  net  proceeds  of  domestic 
agriculture,  it  is  necessary  again  and  again  to  recur 
to  the  subject,  and  especially  at  this  time  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  our  fruit  industry  is  confronted 
by  a  crisis  which,  if  it  does  not  meet  with  immediate 
and  strong  resistance,  threatens  to  completely  destroy 
it,  and  thus  to  greatly  damage  our  national  welfare. 

*  Deutsche  Vmdwirtschaftliche  Presse,  xxiv.,  No.  7,  Jan.  27,  1897. 


412  TJif   Principles   of  Fruit -grmring. 

This  danger  has  now  become  actual  through  the 
flooding  of  the  German  market  with  fresh  American 
apples.  It  is,  c.  y.,  a  fact,  that  during  this  winter 
the  demand  for  apples  in  Berlin  is  being  supplied 
with  the  American  product,  and  others  are  scarcely 
offered  or  not  desired.  This  condition,  and  the 
dangers  to  the  German  fruit  industry  arising  there- 
from, are  set  forth  in  a  praiseworthy  manner  in  a 
small  pamphlet  by  B.  L.  Kiihne-Rixdorf  (Berlin, 
1897).  This  pamphlet  also  points  out  the  means  by 
which  we  in  Germany,  by  following  to  some  extent 
the  practical  American — in  relation  to  the  growing  of 
a.  few  good  marketable  varieties  of  fruits,  rigidhr  sort- 
ing them,  and  packing  and  shipping  in  proper  pack- 
ages— can  successfully  meet  the  dangers  alluded  to. 

"The  suggestions  made  by  the  author  of  the 
pamphlet  are  as  follows : 

"1.  The  fast  transportation  of  fresh  German  fruit 
at  low  rates  on  the  part  of  the  railroads. 

"2.  The  cultivation  of  a  few  valuable  varieties. 

"8.  The  rigid  sorting  of  fruit  destined  to  be  eaten 
in  the  fresh  state. 

"4.  The  rational  conversion  of  the  less  valuable 
fruit  into  imperishable  marketable  products,  as  fruit 
juices,  cider,  marmalade,  jelly,  steamed  fruit,  dried 
fruit,  and  fruit  wines. 

"5.  The  general  introduction  of  light,  cheap  and 
strong  packing  cases  of  standard  size. 

"6.  The  proper  packing  of  the  fresh  fruit. 

"7.  The  training  of  scientific  and  practical  special- 
ists in  fruit  culture. 


Wrapping   in   Paper.  413 

"8.  The  planting  of  large,  rationally  conceived  and 
intensively  cultivated  fruit  plantations,  for  the  imme- 
diate supply  of  the  German  market. 

"The  present  conditions  prove  that  past  methods 
for  advancing  the  German  fruit  industry  have  not 
been  productive  of  the  desired  results,  and  it  is  high 
time  that  all  who  have  the  welfare  of  this  industry 
at  heart  unite  on  the  basis  suggested;  then  and  not 
until  then  will  the  conditions  improve  through  the  in- 
creased home  production  of  fruit,  if  but  sufficient 
to  cover  home  consumption;  we  shall  be  able  to  suc- 
cessfully meet  foreign  competition,  and  this  done,  it 
will  be  possible  to  conquer  for  the  German  product 
a  prominent  place  in  the  markets  of  the  world." 

Fruits  which  are  intended  for  the  dessert  may 
often  be  put  into  the  consumer's  hands  in  very  excel- 
lent condition  by  wrapping  them  in  soft  grocer's 
paper,  of  the  kind  which  is  ordinarily  called  tea 
paper ;  or,  when  the  product  is  especially  choice,  and 
the  grower  has  a  large  quantity,  it  may  pay  him  to 
use  a  grade  of  tissue  paper.  There  are  many  middle- 
men who  practice  this  careful  packing,  and  growers 
may  often  imitate  them  with  profit.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  all  wrapped  samples  of  fruit  reach  the 
consumer  in  perfect  condition,  and  he  may  depend 
upon  their  excellence  and  uniformity  as  he  could 
upon  a  case  of  eggs.  With  pears  or  apples,  the  in- 
side of  the  keg  or  barrel  is  lined  with  newspapers, 
and  each  fruit  is  individually  wrapped  in  soft  ma- 
nilla  paper.  Such  fruits  may  be  expected  to  carry 
thousands  of  miles  without  perceptible  injury.  When 


414  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

opened,  their  aroma  is  such  that  no  well-bred  con- 
sumer can  resist  the  temptation  of  a  high  price. 
Ordinary  fruits,  however,  are  not  worth  this  care. 

It  is  important  that  all  fruit  should  be  packed 
very  snug,  especially  that  which  is  to  be  shipped 
any  distance  in  barrels  or  other  large  packages. 
Fruit  which  is  slack  when  it  reaches  the  market  is 
nearly  always  injured,  and  sells  as  second  or  third 
quality  product.  This  slacking  or  shaking  in  barrels 
may  be  prevented  by  using  fruits  which  are  not  over 
ripe,  by  careful  attention  to  grading,  so  that  all  the 
specimens  are  of  uniform  maturity,  by  keeping  the 
product  cool  after  it  is  packed,  and  especially  by 
placing  the  fruits  in  the  package  by  hand.  Barrels 
of  apples  and  pears  should  ordinarily  be  filled  about 
an  inch  above  the  chine  and  the  fruit  should  be 
pressed  in  with  a  screw  or  lever  press  until  the  head 
comes  into  place.  If  the  fruits  are  wrapped  in  paper, 
or  if  the  package  is  lined  with  several  thicknesses 
of  paper,  the  spring  of  the  paper  itself  will  take 
up  the  slack  and  will  keep  the  fruit  in  place  ;  and 
in  such  cases  it  is  not  necessary  to  apply  heavy 
pressure  in  the  heading -up  of  the  barrel. 

Upon  the  best  brands  of  fruit,  a  trade -mark  is 
often  important.  Some  neat  pictorial  design,  with 
the  name  of  the  grower  and  a  statement  to  the  ef- 
fect that  the  fruit  is  guaranteed  to  be  as  repre- 
sented, attracts  the  eye  of  the  purchaser  and  gives 
him  confidence  in  the  article ;  but  to  put  a  trade- 
mark upon  fruit  of  indifferent  or  even  of  ordinary 
quality  is  little  more  than  a  joke.  If  a  man  uses 


The    Growing   of  the   Fruit.  415 

a  trade -mark,  he  must  expect,  of  course,  to  handle 
his  own  produce,  or  at  least  to  see  that  it  reaches 
the  market  under  his  own  name.  The  fruit  buyers 
who  travel  through  the  country  for  apples  and  other 
produce  ordinarily  pay  little  attention  to  the  trade- 
mark of  the  grower,  but  put  their  own  mark  upon 
the  package.  If  one  really  grows  a  good  quality  of 
fruit,  it  will  commonly  pay  him  to  give  his  farm 
some  neat  and  attractive  name,  which  can  go  onto 
the  labels.  In  short,  every  effort  should  be  made 
to  put  up  the  produce  in  a  finished  manner,  as 
the  best  grades  of  manufactured  produce  are  now 
packed  and  delivered  to  the  consumer. 

Very  much  of  the  success  of  any  fruit  upon  the 
market  depends  upon  how  it  is  grown  as  well  as 
how  it  is  handled.  There  may  even  be  a  difference 
in  the  salableness  of  samples  of  fruit  which  are  to 
all  appearances  alike.  It  is  now  pretty  well  demon- 
strated, for  example,  that  apples  from  trees  which 
have  been  thoroughly  sprayed  and  well  tilled  are 
better  keepers  than  those  of  similar  size  and  appear- 
ance which  are  grown  upon  neglected  trees.  When 
fruits  are  to  be  shipped  to  any  distance,  it  is  par- 
ticularly important  that  the  tillage  and  general  care 
of  the  fruit  plantation  should  have  been  the  best. 

Packages. — It  is  well  nigh  useless  to  make  any 
general  remarks  upon  the  packages  which  are  used 
for  fruits,  because  so  much  depends  upon  the  par- 
ticular grade  of  the  fruit  and  upon  the  way  in 
which  it  is  shipped  and  handled ;  very  much  also 
depends  upon  the  demands  of  the  given  market. 


416  The    Principles   of  Fruit  "growing. 

It  is  an  excellent  plan  for  the  fruit-grower  to  visit 
markets  in  advance  of  the  ripening  of  his  crop,  and 
to  determine  just  what  style  of  package  his  market 
will  most  appreciate.  When  fruits  are  pooled,  or 
shipped  through  exchanges  or  unions,  it  is  imperative 
that  a  uniform  style  of  package  should  be  used;  but 
when  a  man  handles  fruit  solely  upon  his  own  ac- 
count, and  has  a  fine  or  superior  quality,  he  can 
often  advertise  his  product  by  a  unique  package, 
or  at  least  by  one  that  is  unlike  those  in  most 
common  use.  Such  a  package  singles  him  out  from 
his  neighbors,  and  answers  as  a  trade -mark  for  his 
product.  The  writer  has  known  profitable  returns  to 
be  got  from  fruit  which  was  shipped  in  colored 
baskets.  A  dye  was  made  of  aniline,  and  the  bas- 
kets were  dipped  into  the  kettle  (being  handled  with 
a  pitchfork),  and  fruit  which  was  no  better  than  the 
ordinary  run  brought  from  two  to  five  cents  a  bas- 
ket more  than  that  packed  in  the  ordinary  white 
package.  This  will  not  often  succeed,  however,  but 
this  instance  is  given  simply  to  show  that  a  package 
which  is  somewhat  out  of  the  usual  run  may  be  a 
desirable  one  for  a  man  to  use  upon  particular  oc- 
casions. 

In  all  the  finest  fruits  the  grower  should  use 
nothing  but  a  gift  package,  that  is,  one  which  is 
given  away  with  the  fruit  when  it  is  sold.  This  in- 
sures a  clean  and  dainty  package,  and  the  pur- 
chaser is  not  bothered  with  the  thought  of  returning 
it.  In  fruits  which  are  to  reach  a  good  market, 
a  package  which  has  been  used  once  is  a  positive 


Packages  for   Fruits.  417 

detriment.  In  very  many  cases,  it  is  the  packing 
and  the  package  which  sells  the  fruit,  more  than 
the  fruit  itself.  When  fruits  are  sold  by  the  defi- 
nite quantity,  as  by  the  quart,  the  peck  or  the 
bushel,  the  packages  should  be  full  measure.  It 
sometimes  happens  that  for  a  time  a  man  secures 
as  much  for  a  short  or  snide  package  as  for  one 
of  full  measure ;  but  such  a  person  can  scarcely 
expect  to  hold  a  superior  trade  for  a  great  length 
of  time. 

The  most  popular  package  at  the  present  time 
for  grapes,  peaches  and  apricots  is  the  Climax 
basket,  which  is  made  in  various  styles  and  sizes. 
Some  of  the  common  forms  are  shown  in  Fig.  95. 
These  are  made  in  sizes  holding  from  five  to  ten 
or  twelve  pounds  of  fruit.  They  are  handy,  cheap, 
nest  well  in  the  shipment,  and  are  durable.  A  good 
basket  of  any  kind  should  be  one  which  is  neatly 
made,  with  no  splinters  or  tag  ends  hanging  from 
it,  which  is  firm  and  symmetrical  in  shape,  well 
nailed,  and  which  is  perfectly  clean  or  white  in 
appearance.  Baskets  become  yellow  and  discol- 
ored if  they  are  left  in  the  sun;  therefore,  when 
they  are  stored,  they  should  be  placed  in  a  clean 
and  dark  dry  loft  or  room.  If  packages  which 
have  been  left  over  from  the  last  year  are  some- 
what dingy,  it  is  sometimes  possible  to  bleach 
them  by  burning  a  little  sulfur  in  the  room. 

The  grower,  then,  will  begin  some  months  in 
advance  to  look  up  the  packages  which  he  shall 
use,  for  he  will  thereby  not  only  suit  himself  and 

BB 


Fig.  04.    Various  types  of  fruit   packages. 


Fig.  95.    Various  types  of  baskets. 


420  The   Principles   of  Fruit- growing. 

the  market,  but  he  will  likely  be  able  to  secure 
his  packages  at  a  lower  cost  if  he  gets  them 
early  in  the  season ;  and  he  will,  in  any  event, 
be  sure  of  his  packages  in  case  there  should  be  a 
large  demand  for  them  at  marketing  time.  It  is 
well  to  secure  the  illustrated  price-lists  of  the  manu- 
facturers, and  to  thoroughly  canvas  the  subjects  of 
styles  and  prices  some  months  in  advance. 

All  packages  smaller  than  a  half  peck  should  be 
shipped  in  crates.  It  is  customary  to  use  crates 
with  slat  sides  and  an  abundance  of  openings,  in 
order  to  insure  complete  ventilation;  but  if  the  fruits 
are  firm  and  dry  when  they  are  picked,  and  are  then 
reduced  to  a  lower  temperature,  they  can  be  shipped 
in  unventilated  crates,  generallj-  with  better  results 
(page  397).  The  shriveling  and  shrinkage  of  the 
fruits  will  be  less  in  the  tight  crates,  and  decay  will 
ordinarily  be  less  also.  These  crates  should  be  gift 
packages,  and  made  out  of  light  split  stuff,  as  bas- 

NOTE.— The  pictures  in  Figs.  94-97,  pages  418,  419,  422,  423,  are  shown 
for  the  purpose  of  acquainting  the  reader  with  some  of  the  leading  types 
of  fruit  packages  now  in  use. 

Fig.  94.— No.  1,  common  quart  berry  box  ;  2,  the  bottom,  in  flat  ;  3,  the 
sides,  in  flat  ;  4,  5,  7,  till  baskets  ;  6,  paper  basket,  set  up  ;  8,  oblong  quart 
boxes  ;  9,  10,  metal-topped  baskets  ;  11,  bushel  basket  with  slat  cover  ;  12, 
common  splint  peach  basket;  13,  same,  with  cover. 

Fig.  95.— No.  1,  veneer  peach  basket  ;  2,  standard  peach  basket  ;  3,  veneer 
straight-sided  basket  ;  4,  vegetable  basket  ;  5,  California  peaches,  wrapped 
in  paper  ;  6,  a  frequent  result  in  the  market ;  7-11,  various  styles  of  Cli- 
max baskets  ;  12,  13,  baskets  for  apple-picking  (same  number  of  apples  iu 
each,  but  those  in  13  from  sprayed  trees,  those  in  12  from  untreated  trees). 

Fig.  9(5.— No.  1,  Diamond  market  basket  ;  2,  16-pint  basket-tray;  3-9,  vari- 
ous styles  of  crates  for  berry  boxes. 

Fig.  97.— No.  1,  crate  for  Leslie  boxes  ;  2,  4-quart  hand-tray  ;  3,  24-quart 
crate  ;  4,  till-basket  crate  ;  5,  6,  fruit  boxes  (holding  from  %  to  1  bus.) ;  7, 


Packages  for   Fruits.  421 

kets  are.  Crates  which  are  designed  to  be  returned 
to  the  grower  are  usually  heavy,  are  commonly  made 
of  sawed  stuff,  and  are  provided  with  hinges  and 
clasps.  In  shipping  long  distances  by  rail,  large 
crates  (holding  as  many  as  sixty  baskets  or  cups) 
are  generally  preferable,  because  there  is  less  "side 
shake,"  because  of  the  greater  bulk ;  and  such  heavy 
packages  are  not  so  carelessly  handled  as  the  small 
ones  are.  The  time  is  rapidly  coming  when  all  the 
better  grades  and  better  qualities  of  fruits  will  be 
put  up  in  special  gift  packages,  and  the  time  can- 
not be  far  distant  when  pasteboard  boxes  will  be 
used  to  some  extent.  One  of  the  most  marked  re- 
sults of  the  recent  advancement  and  competition  in 
the  manufacture  of  products  is  the  packing  of  single 
articles  in  tasty  boxes.  Boots  and  shoes,  for  ex- 
ample, were  shipped  loose  in  large  cases  a  few  years 
ago,  whilst  now,  in  all  of  the  better  grades,  every 
pair  is  boxed  by  itself.  In  other  words,  not  only 
is  the  product  itself  a  finished  article,  but  it  is 
packed  in  a  dainty  and  finished  way,  and  the  same 

The  bushel  box;  8.  patent  fruit  barrel;  9.  Highcliffe  patent  barrel  for  export 
apples  (arranged  to  be  sawn  in  two  without  distuihine  the  fruit. 

With  these  packages  the  reader  should  compare  Fig.  98,  showing  crates 
actually  sent  into  the  New  York  market  -with  pears.  The  grower  was  evi- 
dently of  an  economical  turn  of  mind,  for  he  had  made  the  packages  of 
the  odds  and  ends  of  the  place,— old  boards  and  old  rail,  a  wagon-jack,  and 
a  wagon-reach  !  The  New  York  party  who  sent  us  these  packages  wrote  as 
follows  :  "I  found  a  new  fruit  package  on  the  market  here,  and  as  I  know 
that  you  are  deeply  interested  in  horticulture,  this  will  be  of  interest  to  you. 
It  was  invented  and  manufactured  by  a  man  up  the  Hudson  River,  and  was 
•used  for  shipping  pears.  The  commission  man  who  received  this  package 
offered  it,  pears  and  all,  for  25  cts.,  but  could  not  sell.  I  requested  him 
to  empty  the  fruit  into  a  keg  and  let  me  have  the  package.  He  did  so, 
sorting  out  a  few  of  the  smallest  fruits,  and  then  sold  the  keg  for  $1." 


Fig.  9C.    Baskets  and  crate 


Fig.  97.    Crates  and  barrels. 


424 


The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


must  come    to    be    true   of   many  of   the    better   kinds 
of    agricultural    products. 

In  the  fanciest  fruits,  like  the  best  dessert  pears, 
and  even  some  of  the  largest  and  finest  strawberries, 
it  is  often  profitable  to  ship  in  cases  something  like 


Fig.  98.      Novel   packages  found  in  the  New   York  market. 


those  used  for  eggs,  in  which  each  individual  fruit 
has  a  compartment  or  receptacle  of  its  own.  If,  in 
addition,  the  fruit  is  carefully  wrapped  in  these  com- 
partments, the  very  finest  type  of  packing  will  result. 
To  one  who  has  not  followed  the  market  closely,  all 
these  suggestions  will  seem  to  be  expensive  and  un- 
profitable ;  and  this  is  certainly  true  of  everything 


Packing   Equipments.  425 

but  the  best  quality  of  fruits.  The  common  run  of 
goods  will  not  bear  the  expense  of  extra  care  in  the 
handling  and  marketing,  and  this  is  the  kind  of  fruit 
which  it  does  not  pay  to  grow.  If  one  makes  a 
study  of  the  market  he  will  soon  come  to  feel  that 
the  package  and  the  packing  cut  a  most  impor- 
tant figure  in  the  sales.  The  package  really  adver- 
tises the  fruit  more  than  the  fruit  advertises  itself; 
and  it  is  a  wrell- known  business  principle  that  an 
article  which  is  first-class  will  stand  very  heavy 
advertising,  but  no  other  will. 

PACKING -HOUSES     AND    APPLIANCES. 

The  subject  of  packing -houses  is  one  which  can- 
not be  treated  specifically  for  each  grower,  from  the 
fact  that  every  person  has  a  different  ideal,  and  he 
may  grow  fruits  for  a  market  which  demands  par- 
ticular treatment  of  the  products.  Amongst  the 
best  types  of  packing -houses,  which  one  generally 
meets  in  the  east,  are  those  used  by  the  grape 
men;  and  if  one  studies  the  question,  he  will  find 
that  there  are  two  distinct  types  of  packing -houses 
in  use  in  the  grape  regions.  One  type  is  a  com- 
bined packing  and  storage  house,  and  is  used  very 
largely  where  Catawbas  are  grown,  and  where  the 
grapes  are  often  stored  for  some  time  before  they 
are  marketed.  The  other  type  of  house  is  that 
which  is  used  in  the  Concord  regions,  and  which 
is  simply  a  half-way  station  between  the  field  and 
the  railway  station, — a  shelter  place  for  the  pack- 


426  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

ing   of   the  grapes, — and   is    not  used   for  the  storage 
of  the  fruit. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  storage  type  of  packing- 
houses (used  for  holding  the  fruit  until  winter  or 
later)  may  be  described  as  follows:*  It  is  built  on 
a  side  hill,  and  the  basement  or  cellar  is  used 
for  the  storage  of  grapes,  the  first  floor  is  used 
for  packing,  and  the  second  floor  or  attic  for  the 
storage  of  baskets,  crates,  and  the  like.  This  build- 
ing measures  25x60  feet  over  all.  The  foundation 
walls  are  24  inches  thick,  and  the  cellar  is  pro- 
vided with  ample  means  of  ventilation  by  outside 
windows,  and  also  by  means  of  a  chimney  which 
runs  from  near  the  middle  of  the  cellar  up  through 
the  roof.  The  floor  is  of  dirt.  By  means  of  care- 
ful attention  to  ventilation,  this  cellar  can  be  kept 
to  50°  or  below  during  September  and  October,  and 
is  frost -proof  during  the  winter.  The  windows  are 
provided  with  close-fitting  screens,  to  keep  out  rats 
and  squirrels.  This  cellar  will  hold  easily  fifty  tons 
of  grapes  in  the  picking  trays.  The  first  floor  is 
divided  into  two  rooms,  the  front  one  being  a  pack- 
ing-room 25  feet  square,  and  the  back  room  being 
a  storage  and  shipping  department  25x35  feet. 
This  packing -room  is  provided  with  heat,  and  is 
lighted  by  seven  large  windows.  The  floor  above 
the  cellar  is  double  and  made  of  1%-inch  matched 
pine,  with  an  abundant  air  space  between  the  two 
layers.  This,  therefore,  protects  the  cellar  from 

*Bull.  117,  Cornell   Exp.  Sta. 


Packing -houses. 


427 


sudden  fluctuations  of  temperature.  The  building  is 
also  shaded,  especially  from  the  afternoon  sun,  by 
large  trees.  This  building  can  be  erected  for  about 
$1,200.  It  has  18-foot  posts,  a  tin  roof,  the  two 


Fig.  99.    A  good  type  of  packing-boose. 

rooms    in    the   first    floor   ceiled   with    pine,  but    the 
top  floor  not  ceiled. 

The  other  type  of  packing -house  (used  only  for 
purposes  of  packing  and  of  storing  packages)  is  ad- 
mirably illustrated  by  Figs.  99  and  100,  which  are 
pictures  of  the  house  of  W.  W.  Pettit,  Brocton, 
New  York.  In  this  case  there  is  no  cellar,  for  the 
grapes  are  not  to  remain  in  the  house  more  than 
a  day  or  two  at  the  longest,  and  they  ordinarily 


428 


The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


pass  directly  through  it  on  their  way  to  the  rail- 
way station.  This  is  a  house  which  can  be  built 
for  about  $500.  The  main  floor  of  the  building  is 
24  x  40  feet,  and  aside  from  this  there  is  a  drive- 
way, IF,  under  the  same  roof,  and  which  measures 


Fig.  100.    Plan  of  the  40  ft.  packing-house. 

11x30  feet.  This  driveway  connects  with  the  main 
floor  by  two  doors.  The  front  room,  JV,  which  is 
lighted  by  four  windows  in  the  front  and  one  upon 
the  side,  and  is  12x24  feet  in  size,  is  the  packing- 
room.  In  the  rear  of  this  is  a  store-room,  E,  for 
the  grapes.  The  half -story  above  is  used  for  baskets 


Packing   Appliances. 


429 


and   crates,  and    these   are    delivered    into   the    pack- 
ing-room  by  a   shute.     This   building   will   accommo- 


; 


Fig.  101.     The  packing  and  sorting  of  grapes. 

date   ten   packers,  and   will    easily   handle   the   grapes 
from  fifty  acres  of  land. 

In  the  packing  of  grapes,  the  greatest  care  is 
required  to  keep  the  fruit  clean  and  fresh,  to  pre- 
vent the  bunches  from  being  broken,  and  to  pre- 
serve the  bloom  upon  the  fruit.  It  is  essential 


430 


The    Principles    of  Fruit- growing. 


that  the  house  should  be  kept  thoroughly  clean  and 
sweet  at  all  times.  It  is  especially  important  that 
the  storage  room  for  the  baskets  and  crates  should 
be  dry  and  airy,  in  order  that  the  baskets  may 


Fig.  102.     Revolving 


cking-talile  of  the  Keuka  grape    legion,  New  York. 


not  become  moldy  or  musty;  and  this  room  should 
also  be  kept  darkened,  to  prevent  the  baskets  from 
coloring. 

In  Fig.  101  is  shown  the  packing  room  in  Mr. 
Pettit's  house.  In  this  case,  the  picking  trays  are  set 
before  the  packers  upon  an  inclined  table,  and  the 


Packing -houses. 


431 


packer  handles  the  grapes  from  this  tray  into  a 
basket  which  she  places  at  her  left.  When  the 
basket  is  filled,  it  is  placed  upon  a  flat  ledge  in 
front  of  her  (R),  and  is  taken  off  by  an  attendant, 
who  places  the  baskets  on  a  truck  and  rolls  them 
into  the  back  room,  from  which  they  are  delivered 
to  the  wagon.  Empty  baskets  are  stored  upon  the 
high  shelf  C,  and  these  are  replenished  by  an  atten- 


Fig.  103.     Packing  house  of  the  Hale  orchards,  Georgia. 

da nt,  as  necessary.  When  the  tray  is  empty,  it  is 
slid  through  an  opening  just  in  front  of  the  packer 
and  underneath  the  flat  ledge  upon  which  she  places 
her  finished  baskets.  Fig.  102  shows  a  packing-table 
in  the  packing -room  of  George  C.  Snow,  Penn  Yan, 
New  York.  This  is  a  circular  revolving  table,  about 


432 


The,    Principles    of  Fruit-growing. 


which  the  packers  sit.  The  packer  holds  the  bas- 
ket in  her  lap  and  takes  the  grapes  off  the  table, 
which  is  turned  as  fresh  fruit  is  put  upon  it.  This 
device  allows  the  packer  to  select  from  a  large  quan- 
tity of  fruit. 

The    packing-house  of    the    great  Hale    orchards  in 
Georgia    is  shown  in   Fig.    103,   and    an   interior    view 


Fijj.  104.     Packing  peaches   iu  Geor 


in  Fig.   104.     The    latter    picture  is  a   peach -packing 
scene. 

The  suggestions  in  the  last  few  pages  cover  most 
of  the  points  which  it  is  necessary  to  consider  in 
the  construction  of  a  packing -house.  The  grower 
will  be  able  to  apply  them  to  his  own  conditions. 
A  simple  temporary  shed  erected  in  the  orchard  is 
often  made  to  serve  all  the  purposes  of  a  packing- 
house. A  cloth  tent  is  often  used.  The  appliances 


Sorting  -  tab  les  and  Presses . 


433 


which  are  needed  in  packing -houses,  aside  from 
packages  and  crates,  are  trucks,  sorting -tables,  barrel 
presses,  and  an  abun- 
dance of  baskets  or 
barrels  for  the  refuse 
fruit. 

Sorting -tables  are 
of  various  patterns, 
but  those  which  are 
used  for  apples,  cran- 
berries (Fig.  105),  Fig.  105.  Sorting  cranberries. 

and  other  firm  fruits,  consist  of  a  table  or  tray 
about  twice  as  long  as  broad,  narrowed  at  one  end, 
at  which  it  is  open  to  allow  the  good  fruit  to  roll 
off  into  a  basket  or  barrel.  The  fruits  are  poured 
from  the  picking  baskets  on  to  the  table,  and  a  num- 
ber of  persons  standing  on  either  side  remove  the 
litter  and  the  inferior  fruit,  whilst  they  work  the  good 
fruit  on  to  the  outlet. 

Of  barrel  presses  there  are  several  styles.  The 
most  expeditious  is  some  kind  of  lever  press  (like 
No.  3  in  Fig.  106),  but  more  pressure  can  be  ob- 
tained with  a  screw  press  (7),  and  such  an  im- 
plement holds  itself  in  place  whilst  the  head  is 
being  adjusted.  Fig  106  (on  page  434)  contains 
illustrations  of  all  the  types  of  barrel  presses  which 
are  in  common  use.  They  are:  1,  home-made  lever 
press;  2,  Climax  lever  press;  3,  improved  lever  press; 
4,  stand-up  barrel  header;  5,  packing  press  (for  pack- 
ing and  baling  goods) ;  6,  stirrup  press ;  7,  iron 
screw  press. 

cc 


Pig.  106.    Barrel  presses.     (See  page  433.) 


Advice   About   Storing   Fruits.  435 

STORING     FRUITS. 

It  is  impossible  to  draw  the  line  between  a 
packing-house  and  a  storage -house.  In  fact,  the 
same  structure  may  be  used  for  both  purposes,  as 
the  grape  house  is  which  has  been  described  in 
the  preceding  pages.  There  is  more  and  more 
necessity  that  the  fruit-grower  should  provide  the 
means  of  storing  fruits,  when  prices  are  low  and 
competition  is  very  sharp. 

General  advice.— As  a  rule,  it  will  not  pay  the 
fruit-grower  to  build  iced  storage  or  chemical  store- 
houses for  his  fruit,  unless  he  has  a  very  large 
acreage.  This  cold-storage  of  fruit  is  really  a  busi- 
ness by  itself,  and  requires  a  great  deal  of  care 
and  skill  to  carry  it  through  successfully,  and  a 
discussion  of  it  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this 
book.  If  the  grower  desires  to  keep  his  produce 
until  late  winter  or  spring,  and  has  no  cellars  or 
natural  storage  place,  it  will  ordinarily  pay  him 
best  to  put  it  into  some  commercial  cold-storage 
house,  and  to  pay  so  much  per  package  for  the 
storing  of  it. 

For  temporary  storage,  however,  these  remarks 
will  not  apply.  Every  person  who  grows  fruits, 
especially  perishable  kinds,  should  have  some  kind  of 
a  building  in  which  he  may  place  the  fruits  over 
night,  or  for  two  or  three  days,  when  waiting  for 
the  market  to  improve,  or  for  the  purpose  of  cool- 
ing them  down  before  shipment.  These  houses  are 
ordinarily  cooled  merely  by  cold  air.  They  are  often 


436  The    Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

known  as  "chill  rooms."  A  room  which  is  well 
fitted  for  the  keeping  of  butter  in  warm  weather 
may  also  be  used  to  advantage  for  fruit.  In  some 
cases,  arrangements  can  be  made  for  the  use  of  ice 
to  reduce  the  temperature  for  the  time  being.  If 
one  has  a  considerable  quantity  of  fruit,  and  has  a 
large  cellar  which  is  well  adapted  to  the  keeping 
of  apples,  he  can  often  store  his  crop  to  advantage 
when  the  price  is  low  in  the  fall ;  but  the  growrer 
must  bear  in  mind  that  the  risks  in  the  storing 
of  fruit  are  very  great.  In  the  first  place,  markets 
may  not  improve  as  he  thinks  they  ought ;  and, 
again,  the  fruit  may  not  keep  well.  Even  when 
the  fruit  does  keep  well,  there  is  frequently  a  large 
shrinkage,  and  the  expense  of  re -packing  and  han- 
dling is  a  large  item.  The  fruit  which  is  designed 
to  be  kept  for  the  late  winter  or  spring  trade  should 
be  carefully  sorted  when  it  is  put  in  storage,  and 
especial  care  should  be  taken  that  none  of  the  fruit 
is  over -ripe.  (See  page  379.)  Fruit  which  is  in 
proper  condition  for  storing  when  it  is  picked  may 
be  ruined  for  long -keeping  quality  by  allowing  it 
to  lie  in  the  sun  or  in  a  warm  place  for  a  day 
or  two. 

Neighborhood  or  cooperative  storage  is  often 
practicable,  without,  however,  attempting  to  establish 
a  true  cold-storage  business.  C.  H.  Perkins*  has 
presented  the  advantages  of  such  an  enterprise  to 
the  fruit-growers  of  New  York,  as  a  means  of  sav- 

*«Cold  Storage   for   Neighborhoods,"  Proc.   39th  Meeting    W.  N.  Y.  Hort. 
Soc.,  41  (1894). 


Neighborhood   Storage.  437 

ing  the  fruit  crop  over  gluts,  and  especially  of  hold- 
ing the  market  from  western  competition.  This 
would  no  doubt  prove  to  be  a  very  useful  method 
for  the  north  for  the  late  fall  and  winter  fruit, 
but  it  would  probably  not  be  practicable  for  the 
south,  or  for  holding  the  summer  fruits.  "If,  there- 
fore," he  writes,  "every  neighborhood  in  western  New 
York  had  a  cold -storage  house  for  barreled  apples, 
that  would  protect  against  frost  and  hold  anywhere 
from  ten  thousand  to  twenty  thousand  barrels,  run, 
if  need  be,  on  the  same  cooperative  principles  and 
methods  as  the  cheese  factories  of  this  state,  or  the 
fruit  associations  of  California  or  Michigan,  would 
not  the  result  be  very  much  more  satisfactory  to 
the  grower  than  present  methods?  *  *  *  *  * 
Such  a  building  may  be  of  moderate  cost  and  yet 
substantial  and  durable,  and  need  not  always  be 
located  at  the  nearest  railroad.  How  many  have 
ever  figured  or  thought  of  the  cost  to  the  grower 
of  transporting  his  apples  to  the  railroad  or  canal 
station  from  his  farm  during  the  months  of  Sep- 
tember or  October,  when  there  is  much  work  to  do 
and  time  is  of  most  value  ?  Say  that  the  grower 
is  five  or  eight  miles  from  said  station.  I  believe 
that  for  less  cost  per  barrel  the  dealer  located  in 
western  New  York  will  deliver  the  same  apples  in 
barrels  at  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  Duluth,  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  or  Boston.  There  are  quite  a  number  of 
apple  houses  in  western  New  York  owned  by  dealers, 
but  there  are  few  that  were  built  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  safely  storing  apples.  I  have  a  building  that 


438  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

was  built  for  the  storage  of  nursery  stock,  and  in  which 
I  have  had  apples  stored  all  winter.  It  is  frost- 
proof, built  on  a  heavy  stone  wall  twenty -four  inches 
thick  and  three  feet  high.  On  this  wall  were  set  up 
two  by  four  scantling ;  these  were  sheathed  with  inch 
hemlock,  then  covered  with  tarred  building  paper, 
then  furred  out  with  strips  four  inches  deep,  and 
again  covered  as  before,  until  the  wall  has  three  air 
spaces.  The  roof  is  constructed  in  the  same  way  to 
protect  against  frost.  Light  and  ventilation  come 
from  two  rows  of  windows  at  the  top.  The  roof  is 
gravel.  The  outside  is  covered  with  novelty  siding. 
The  building  has  double  or  two  sets  of  doors  at  each 
end,  and  a  driveway  through  the  center.  It  is 
painted  inside  and  out,  is  one  hundred  feet  long  by 
forty  feet  wide,  the  whole  cost  was  $1,400,  and  it 
would  afford  storage  for  ten  thousand  barrels.  The 
atmosphere  is  the  same  inside  as  out,  only  that  the 
building  is  frost -proof  and  can  be  run  in  the  winter 
months  with  a  variation  of  not  over  12°;  there  is  no 
smell  of  a  cellar  whatever,  and  stock  always  keeps 
perfectly.  Such  a  house,  or  a  better  one,  in  a  neigh- 
borhood, would  pay  four  years  out  of  five,  at  least 
50  cents  per  barrel  over  all  cost  of  labor  for  han- 
dling, sorting,  insurance,  etc.,  and  this  year  where 
there  were  apples,  it  would  have  paid  $1  to  $1.50  per 
barrel." 

Requisites  for  domestic  storage. — The  home  storage 
establishment  is  generally  either  a  cellar  or  a  half- 
cellar,  although,  by  taking  particular  pains  in  the 
construction  of  air  spaces,  a  building  entirely  above 


Features   of  a    Storage   House.  439 

ground  may  be  made  to  answer  the  purpose.  A 
building  wholly  on  the  surface,  however,  is  more 
likely  to  give  variable  temperatures  than  one  which  is 
partially  under  ground.  An  ordinary  house  cellar,  if 
it  has  good  ventilation  and  is  not  too .  dry  or  too 
warm,  may  answer  very  well  for  the  storage  of  fruit; 
but  it  is  ordinarily  best,  both  for  purposes  of  storage 
and  for  health,  that  the  fruit  cellar  should  be  a  sepa- 
rate structure  if  products  are  to  be  stored  in  any 
quantity.  The  requisites  of  a  good  storage  cellar  for 
fruit  are  chiefly  four :  protection  from  frost ;  the 
ability  to  secure  a  uniform  or  unvarying  temperature 
of  40°  or  below ;  facilities  for  ventilation ;  and  air 
which  is  moist  enough  to  prevent  evaporation. 

The  protection  from  frost  is  secured  either  by 
sinking  the  building  below  the  surface  of  the  soil,  or 
by  making  two  to  four  air  spaces  in  the  walls  in 
that  portion  which  stands  above  the  earth.  The  ven- 
tilation should  include  facilities  for  removing  the  warm 
and  impure  air  from  somewhere  near  the  top  of  the 
structure.  Some  kind  of  a  shaft  or  chimney  construc- 
tion, with  a  valve  or  shutter  which  can  be  opened  or 
closed  as  necessary,  will  answer  this  purpose.  In 
buildings  which  are  above  ground,  it  will  be  often 
necessary  to  provide  some  means  of  taking  in  the 
cold  air  near  the  bottom  of  the  building,  especially 
before  the  cold  weather  of  winter  sets  in  .and  after 
the  warm  weather  of  spring  begins.  Cold  air  being 
heavier  than  warm  air,  it  settles  upon  the  surface  of 
the  ground  in  still  nights,  and  if  the  floor  of  the 
storage  structure  is  two  or  three  feet  below  the  top 


440  The   Principles    of    Fruit-growing. 

of  the  ground,  this  cold  air  may  be  drained  into  the 
building  by  means  of  flues  which  are  laid  through 
the  walls,  the  outer  ends  standing  just  above  the 
earth.  Six -inch  sewer  pipes,  at  intervals  about  the 
building,  answer  this  purpose  admirably.  In  a  build- 
ing thirty  feet  wide  and  seventy  feet  long,  three  of 
these  valves  along  either  side,  and  one  upon  either 
end,  are  probably  sufficient  for  all  ordinary  require- 
ments. Sub -ventilation  is  sometimes  recommended, 
and  may  often  work  to  good  advantage.  This  is 
secured  by  running  a  long  pipe  from  near  the  bottom 
of  a  cellar  storage  out  to  the  surface  of  the  ground 
six  or  more  rods  away.  This  pipe  has  a  valve  at 
the  outer  end,  or  at  least  some  protecting  structure 
to  prevent  the  leaves  and  litter  from  blowing  into 
it,  and  it  is  ordinarily  best,  also,  to  have  a  valve 
at  the  inner  end.  Inasmuch  as  the  earth  about  this 
subterranean  passage  is  not  frozen  during  the  win- 
ter, cold  air  may  be  drawn  in  from  the  outside 
and  be  warmed  up  above  the  freezing  point  in  its 
passage  through  the  tube.  This  type  of  ventilation 
has  been  used  with  success  in  cellars  designed  for 
the  wintering  of  bees.  It  should  always  be  remem- 
bered that  cold  air  contains  less  moisture  than  warm 
air  does.  When  very  cold  air  is  admitted,  therefore, 
moisture  is  rapidly  taken  up  when  its  temperature 
rises,  and  the  cellar  may  be  made  too  dry.  It  is 
advisable,  therefore,  to  raise  the  temperature  of  such 
air  to  nearly  its  ultimate  or  required  degree  before 
it  enters  the  storage  room. 

Cellars    which    are    very   dry    cause    the    fruit    to 


Keeping   Fruit   on    Trays.  441 

shrivel.  Those  rooms  in  which  there  is  a  natural 
sand  or  gravel  bottom  ordinarily  keep  fruit  in  the 
best  condition.  Cement  bottoms  are  very  apt  to  be 
too  dry.  Running  water  is  very  often  desirable  in  a 
fruit  cellar,  not  only  because  it  furnishes  moisture  to 
the  air,  but  also  because  it  is  an  equalizer  of  the 
temperature.  One  must  be  cautioned,  however,  that 
a  cellar  which  is  not  properly  ventilated  will  cause 
the  fruit  to  mold  and  decay,  if  it  is  wet.  In  gen- 
eral, it  is  best  to  have  means  for  supplying  fresh 
air,  and  then  keep  the  cellar  simply  moist,  not  wet. 
One  should  avoid  drafts  in  the  storage  cellar,  for 
currents  of  air  are  very  likely  to  cause  the  fruit  to 
lose  moisture  and  to  shrivel. 

Much  is  said  about  the  keeping  of  fruit  upon 
trays  in  cellars  rather  than  in  barrels  or  crates,  but 
this  must  be  determined  by  the  character  of  the 
cellar  as  to  temperature  and  moisture.  In  cellars 
which  are  too  dry,  the  fruit  should  be  left  in  the 
closed  packages;  but  if  the  air  is  moist  and  the  tem- 
perature very  low,  the  fruit  may  be  placed  upon 
racks  or  trays  to  the  very  best  advantage.  But  in 
any  case,  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  fruit 
which  has  been  placed  in  storage  for  a  month  or 
more,  should  be  re-sorted  and  re -packed  before  it  is 
put  upon  the  market.  It  has  been  said  (page  436) 
that  the  best  results  in  the  storing  of  fruit  are  had 
when  the  product  is  very  thoroughly  sorted  before 
it  is  put  into  the  cellar,  for  even  if  the  cellar  is 
very  nearly  perfect  for  the  keeping  of  the  fruit,  any 
over-ripe  or  decayed  specimens  will  very  likely  break 


442  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

down,  and  spread  the  contamination  to  the  entire 
sample.  The  fruit  should  be  cooled  down  somewhat 
before  it  is  placed  in  cold  storage,  especially  if  there 
is  much  of  it,  otherwise  it  raises  the  temperature 
of  the  compartment. 

The  requisite  features  in  a  domestic  iced  storage 
house  are  set  forth  as  follows  by  Hexamer : *  "To 
preserve  fruit  or  retard  its  ripening,  it  has  to  be 
stored  in  pure,  dry,  cold  air.  These  conditions  can 
be  produced  in  various  ways.  But  the  simplest  and 
least  expensive  method  for  farm  use  is  to  build  a 
two -story  ice  house,  the  ground  floor  of  which  is  for 
the  storage  of  fruit  and  the  upper  for  ice.  The  most 
important  part  of  such  a  house  is  the  proper  con- 
struction of  the  dividing  floor  upon  which  the .  ice 
rests.  The  timbers,  the  size  of  which  depends  on  the 
quantity  of  ice  to  be  supported  by  them,  are  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  have  narrow  openings  between  one 
another  to  permit  the  cold  air  from  the  ice  cham- 
ber proper  to  descend  to  the  storage  room  below, 
and  also  to  facilitate  the  dripping  of  the  water  from 
the  melting  ice. 

"To  prevent  the  water  from  falling  on  the  fruit, 
an  additional  floor  or  roof  has  to  be  constructed 
under  the  dividing  floor.  The  best  material  for  this 
purpose  is  galvanized,  corrugated  sheet  iron,  arranged 
so  that  all  the  water  which  falls  upon  it  flows  into  a 
gutter  connected  with  a  leader,  through  which  it  is 
carried  into  the  main  drain.  Dryness  in  the  storage 

*Dr.   F.    M.  Hexamer,   "Cold  Storage  Fruit  House,"  Amer.  Agric.,  Jan.  30, 
1897,  135. 


Storage  for    Grapes.  443 

room  being  of  prime  importance,  the  floor  should  be 
cemented  whenever  existing  conditions  permit.  Of 
course,  ample  provision  has  to  be  made  for  thorough 
draiuage,  ventilation  and  circulation  of  air.  Several 
devices  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  have  been 
patented,  and  an  excellent  non- patented  plan  is 
minutely  described  and  illustrated  in  Theron  L.  Hiles' 
book  on  the  'Ice  Crop.'  The  general  construction  of 
the  walls,  roof,  ventilation,  etc.,  of  such  a  storage 
house  does  not  differ  materially  from  that  of  ordinary 
ice  houses.  If  the  storage  house  is  used  much  during 
hot  weather,  the  greater  part  of  the  ice  will  probably 
have  melted  before  the  fall  fruit  comes  in.  It  will 
therefore  be  necessary  to  have  a  reserve  ice  house 
near  by,  from  which  the  storage  house  can  be  re- 
plenished." 

The  requisites  for  keeping  grapes  during  the 
winter  are  given  as  follows  by  George  C.  Snow:* 
"Any  good  building  in  which  the  temperature  can  be 
held  even  at  abmit  35°,  with  ventilation  as  may  be 
required,  this  to  be  determined  by  noting  how  the 
fruit  is  keeping,  will  be  found  available  for  grapes. 
No  positive  rules  can  be  laid  down.  A  cooling  room, 
in  which  the  fruit  can  be  first  cooled,  is  a  necessity. 
If  placed  directly  in  cold  storage,  the  temperature  will 
be  found  to  be  raised  rapidly  by  placing  a  quantity 
of  warm  fruit  in  the  room.  As  even  a  temperature 
as  possible  is  much  the  best.  Grapes  should  not  be 
packed  in  baskets  for  shipping  before  being  stored. 
They  should  be  ripe,  as  grapes  do  not  mature  after 

*  Rural  New- Yorker,  Feb.  1,  1890  ;   Bull.  117,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


444 


TJie   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


picking.  Niagara  or  any  other  variety  can  be  held 
only  for  a  limited  time,  some  varieties  longer  than 
others." 

The  following  temperatures  at  which  a  cold  stor- 
age company  (Geuesee  Fruit  Company,  Rochester,  New 
York)  engages  to  hold  certain  products,  will  be  in- 
teresting to  the  horticulturist: 


GOODS. 

Temp. 

GOODS. 

Temp. 

Apples*  

33° 

36° 

40 

35 

Canned  goods  

35 

Nuts   ... 

35 

35 

36 

Cherries  

40 

Pears 

35 

oo 

35 

Dried  berries  

35 

Prunes  

35 

35 

35 

35 

Raisins 

35 

Dates  

35 

Vegetables. 

35 

35 

Wine 

40 

Figs  

35 

35 

36 

Storage    buildings. — There    are    many    fashions    in 
which   storage   houses   may   be   built    for    home    use. 

*  Apples  are  often  carried  as  low  as  30°. 

NOTE.— The  director  of  the  Genesee  Fruit  Company  writes  under  date  of 
May  22,  1897,  as  follows  :  "We  carry  apples  at  a  temperature  of  30  degrees,  and 
we  would  advocate  carrying  them  at  29  degrees  for  the  first  month  in  storage. 
Apples  are  going  out  of  our  warehouse  in  perfect  condition  ;  in  fact,  there  was 
one  small  lot,  consisting  of  198  barrels  of  Baldwins,  which  went  out  two  weeks 
ago,  and  they  were  all  run  (or  sorted),  and  the  shrinkage  occasioned  by  decay 
was  \y*  barrels.  One  of  the  most  essential  features  in  carrying  apples  is  getting 
them  in  storage  directly  after  they  are  picked  from  the  trees,  and  we  do  not 
advocate  receiving  Greenings  for  storage  after  October  20." 


Fruit -houses. 


445 


Fig.  107  shows  a  simple  fruit -house,  with  tiers  of 
trays  upon  either  side  of  a  central  passage-way.  The 
chimney  and  the  area  in  the  floor 
allow  of  change  of  air.  Fig.  108 
is  a  fruit -house  of  the  late  Charles 
Downing,  of  pomological 
fame.  Whatever  the  style 
of  the  fruit -house,  the 
walls  above  the  surface 
of  the  ground  should  be 
well  provided  with  air- 
spaces. The  accompany- 
ing details  of  the  con- 
struction of  celery  houses  Fig  107  Simple 
(Figs.  109,  110),  will  suf- 
ficiently explain  some  of  the  problems  which  should  be 
considered.*  "This  structure  has  a  brick  foundation, 
and  the  roof  is  well  provided  with  air  chambers  and 
paper  linings,  affording  the  best  protection  against 
cold.  The  additional  large  air  chamber  above  the 
collar  beams,  with  its  separate  windows,  seems  also 
desirable.  There  are  large  double  doors  at  each  end, 
and  the  space  between  each  outer  and  inner  door  is 
large,  and  the  connections  are  well  arranged  for  the 
exclusion  of  cold  air.  It  seems  of  sufficient  interest 
to  give  a  view  of  such  a  storage  house  ;  but  full 
details  of  construction  may  not  be  entered  upon  in 
this  connection.  It  will  be  seen  that  Fig.  109  shows 
the  construction  of  the  peak  and  collar -beam  (k)  of 
the  house,  and  also  of  the  ventilator  (1,  1).  Fig.  110 


'B.  M.  Duggar,  Bull.  132,  Cornell  Exp.  Sta. 


446 


The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 


shows  the  details  of  the  roof  construction.  The  plate 
(h)  is  held  firmly  to  the  wall  by  a  tongue  (i)  let 
into  the  brick  work.  The  rafter  is  b.  On  this  is  a 
thickness  of  sheathing  upon  either  side  (a,  c),  with 


Fig.  108.    Charles  Downing's  fruit -house. 

an  air-space  at  e,  and  outer  sheathing  at  g,  and 
building  paper  at  d  and  f."  Buildings  made  upon 
this  plan,  or  one  similar  to  it,  are  efficient  for  the 
storage  of  either  vegetables  or  fruits. 

Waugh*  gives  the  bill   of  lumber  entering  into  the 
fruit -house  in  Fig.  Ill   (page  449)   as  follows: 

*"  Apple  Growing  in  Grand  Isle  County,"  Bull.  55,  Vermont  Exp.  Sta. 


448  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

BILL  OF  LUMBER  FOR  APPLE  HOUSE. 

3,500  feet  wall  boarding. 

3,000    "     roof  boarding. 

3,500    "     ceiling  (inside). 

7,200    "     floor  boards  (double  floors). 

4,000    "     clap-boards. 

25  bundles  lath. 

22%  squares  slate. 

OUTSIDE     FINISH. 

200  feet  5 -in.  crown  mold.  "1 

190    "    3-in.  bed  mold. 

300    "     %xlO  mold  for  frieze  and  facia.         I  Lineal  measure. 

200    "     %x  7  base  and  water  tables. 

200    "     %x!2  planers. 


4  pieces    %x 

4       "         %x 

5, 
6, 

15    feet. 

15       " 

} 

Corner  boards. 

8       " 
16       " 

2 
2 

X 
X 

8, 

8, 

15       " 
13       " 

} 

Sills. 

56       " 
26       " 

2 

X 
X 

9, 

!), 

30       " 

} 

Floor  joists. 

26       " 

1} 

*x 

9, 

19       " 

Collar  ties  to  rafters. 

100       " 
20       " 

3 
3 

X 
X 

4, 

4, 

14       " 
12       " 

} 

Wall  studs. 

56       " 

2 

X 

8, 

21       " 

Rafters. 

26       " 
26       " 

2 
1 

X 
X 

6, 
6, 

10       " 

8 

} 

Braces. 

16       " 

1 

X 

4, 

13       " 

Ribbons. 

4       " 

2 

x!2, 

13       " 

Ridge  poles. 

The  owner  of  this  house  (T.  L.  Kinney)  gives  the 
following  information  (See  Fig.  112):  "The  fruit 
house  is  built  on  high  and  dry  ground.  The  cellar 
was  three  feet,  and  dirt  taken  from  this  was  used  to 
bank  up  around  the  wall.  The  wall  is  solid  stone  and 
mortar,  is  five  feet  high,  two  and  one-half  feet  wide 


A    Vermont   Apple   House. 


449 


at  the  bottom,  and  two  feet  at  the  top ;  two -inch 
plank  for  sills  on  this,  bedded  in  mortar,  doubled  so 
as  to  break  joints;  two  by  four  studding  above  this; 
outside  of  studding  matched  pine,  then  paper,  and 
then  clap -boards,  painted;  in  middle  of  studding,  lath 


Fig.  111.    Apple  house;  from  the  islands  of  Lake  Champlain. 

and  plaster ;  inside  of  studding,  matched  pine,  then 
paper,  and  then  one-half-inch  sheathing,  painted. 
This  gives  two  hollow  walls,  or  dead -air  spaces.  For 
ventilating,  there  is  one  ventilator  from  cellar  to  the 
observatory  on  top  of  building,  which  has  four  large 
window  frames,  with  blinds,  but  no  tight  windows. 
The  ventilator  opens  into  both  storage  rooms.  We 

DD 


450 


The   Principles   of  Fruit -groiving. 


have  three  eighteen -inch  windows  on  east  and  west 
sides  of  building  in  the  cellar,  and  three  large  win- 
dows in  west  side,  next  to  store  room.  Both  floors 
are  double,  with  paper  between,  and  the  second  room 
is  ceiled  overhead  with  matched  spruce,  and  painted. 
The  two  windows  on  east  side  show  in  cut,  with  the 
outside  doors. 

"About  picking  time,  we  begin  to  cool  off  the 
building  by  keeping  open  during  westerly  winds  or 
cold  waves,  and  closed  as  much  as  possible  when  it 
is  warm.  We  try  not  to  put  in  any  fruit  when  the 
fruit  is  warm,  but  have  it  cool,  if  possible.  In  this 
way  the  air  in  the  building  is  cool  all  the  time.  I 
have  kept  a  partial  daily  record  of  the  temperature  in 
the  cellar  this  winter  (1896-7)  since  December  28,  the 
results  of  which  are  as  follows: 


SECOND  ROOM. 


DATE. 

Temp. 

DATE. 

Temp. 

Decembe 
January 

p  28 

35° 
35 
36 
36 
36 
37 
37 
37 
36 
36 
36 
36 

Decembe 
January 

r  28 

32° 
33 
33 
35 
37 
38 
36 
35 
32 
34 
32 
33 

29   

29  
1     ^ 

1 

2   

3  

3  

4  
7  

4       

7  

11 

11 

14  

14  

17 

17       

19  

19  

23  

23     

A    Vermont   Apple   House. 


451 


"It  will    be    seen    by   this    that    the    temperature 

ranges  from  35  to  37°  in  the  cellar,  and  from   32  to 

38°  in  the  room  above.      This  difference  is  occasioned 

by  the  cellar   being   nearly  full   of   barrels  of   apples, 


Fig.  112.    Details  of  house  shown  in  Fig.  111. 


and  the  next  room  about  half  full;  and  we  are  pass- 
ing in  and  out  to  the  second  room  every  day,  and 
some  days  many  times.  The  doors  are  large  and 
high  up,  and  only  common  doors.  We  had  no  snow 
until  the  21st  of  January  this  winter,  and  it  has  been 


452  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

as  cold  as  18°  below  zero  at  two  different  times,  and 
as  low  as  10°  below  zero  several  times.  I  have  no 
fire  except  an  oil  stove,  and  have  not  used  that  yet. 
I  think  that  winter  apples  will  keep  as  well  at  a 
temperature  of  36  as  32°;  yet,  I  have  no  proof  of  it. 
I  do  not  like  to  have  the  apples  get  too  cold,  as  we 
have  twelve  miles  to  haul  to  the  car;  and  if  the 
fruit  is  kept  too  cold,  it  is  more  likely  to  freeze 
on  its  long  trip  to  market." 

A  "new  plan  for  the  construction  of  a  storage  cel- 
lar" is  given  by  Alwood:* 

"The  winter  storage  of  fruits  and  vegetables  is  a  question 
of  much  importance  in  this  state  [Virginia]  because  of  the 
wide  range  of  temperature  which  prevails  during  that  sea- 
son. Also,  temporary  summer  storage  is  a  subject  worthy  of 
careful  attention,  and  may  be  to  some  extent  solved  by  careful 
application  of  the  principle  explained  in  this  article.  The  com- 
mon practice  for  winter  storage  largely  in  vogue  over  this 
state,  is  to  bury  such  vegetables  and  fruits  as  are  required  for 
winter  and  spring  use  in  outdoor  pits.  The  particular  method 
followed  varies  with  the  different  kinds  of  crop  to  be  preserved, 
but  the  essential  facts  are  the  same.  This  system  of  pitting 
can  hardly  be  considered  a  success  so  far  as  relates  to  the  main 
crops  stored;  viz.,  apples  and  potatoes.  The  essentials  of  win- 
ter storage  for  apples  and  potatoes  are  a  low,  dry,  even  tem- 
perature, and  to  secure  this  without  artificial  cold  storage  is  a 
problem  that  cannot  be  met  by  the  outdoor  pit  methods  of 
burying  these  staple  articles.  These  two  crops  are  necessarily 
held  by  growers  in  considerable  quantity  for  winter  and  spring 
use,  and  the  problem  of  storing  them  in  a  convenient  and  suc- 
cessful manner  is  the  one  had  in  view  in  the  discussion  which 
follows.  It  may  be  well  to  state  at  the  outset  that  we  doubt 
the  even  partial  success  of  the  plan  herein  explained  for  all  of 

*W.   B.  Alwood,   Bull.   11,   vol.  iv.,  Va.   Exp.   Sta. 


Virginia   Storage  House.  453 

that  portion  of  the  state  lying  east  of  Piedmont.  Several  years 
since,  we  concluded  to  construct  a  simple  storage  cellar  upon  a 
plan  which  we  once  heard  discussed,  but  had  not  seen  carried 
into  practice.  In  fact,  our  building  is  the  first  one  constructed 
on  this  plan  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge. 

"The  essential  features  involved  in  the  storage  building 
which  we  designed  for  this  purpose  are  :  First,  a  cellar  exca- 
vated into  a  gently  sloping  hillside,  carried  into  the  bank  far 
enough  to  place  the  cellar  room  entirely  below  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  and  yet  give  opportunity  to  enter  the  cellar  easily  by 
an  inclined  way  from  the  lower  side  of  the  slope  ;  secondly,  a 
flue  leading  out  from  near  the  center  of  the  floor  of  the  cellar 
room,  along  the  bank  of  the  hillside  for  a  considerable  distance, 
with  sufficient  fall  to  make  it  act  both  as  a  drain  pipe  and  a 
fresh  air  flue  ;  thirdly,  ventilating  flues  placed  at  each  end  of 
the  cellar  room  or  elsewhere,  as  desired,  and  rising  to  the 
height  necessary  to  give  a  sufficient  draft  to  carry  off  rapidly 
the  air  from  the  cellar  room  whenever  ventilation  is  desired. 

"The  cellar  room  will  better  serve  the  purpose  of  cold  stor- 
age if  the  excavation  is  carried  back  into  the  bank  so  as  to 
make  the  floor  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  below  the  lowest  point  of 
the  adjacent  hillside.  In  the  case  of  the  cellar  built  here,  the 
excavation  is  only  ten  feet  deep  at  the  deepest  point,  but  we 
are  now  satisfied  that  a  greater  depth  would  give  better  results. 
The  principle  of  a  subterranean  air  flue  is  the  essential  feature 
of  this  cellar.  In  its  use  we  aim  to  secure  a  dry,  even  temper- 
ature in  the  cellar  by  admitting  air  as  desired  through  this 
flue.  It  should  be  at  least  six  inches  in  diameter  and,  we  now 
think,  should  be  laid,  at  a  depth  of  eight  or  nine  feet,  along 
the  bank  of  the  hillside,  for  a  distance  of  about  five  hundred 
feet.  It  is  not  necessary  that  this  flue  should  lie  in  a  straight 
line,  but  any  departure  from  a  straight  line  should  be  a  gradual 
curve,  so  as  to  permit  an  unobstructed  flow  of  air  into  the 
cellar.  Situated  at  this  depth,  and  having  a  length  approxi- 
mately as  stated  above,  the  air  flowing  into  the  cellar  through 
this  flue  will  be  in  summer  reduced,  and  in  winter  raised,  to 
the  temperature  of  the  soil  at  the  depth  stated,  which  will 


454 


The   Principles   of   Fruit-growing. 


approximate  somewhere  between  50°  and  55°  Fahr.  during  the 
entire  year.  The  above  statement  is  based  upon  the  observed 
temperature  of  perennial  springs  in  this  vicinity. 

"From  the  foregoing  it  follows  that  if  the  air  in  the  cellar 
becomes  warmer  than  the  air  in  the  underground  flue,  it  will 
rise  through  the  ventilating  flues,  and  the  colder  air  will  flow  in 
from  the  supply  flue,  as  desired.  The  temperature  of  the  cellar 
room  can  thus  be  approximately  controlled  to  at  least  the 
neighborhood  of  55°  to  60°  Fahr.  The  construction  of  the  cellar 
is  shown  somewhat  in  detail  in  the  drawings  below.  These 
figures  ate  not  intended  as  working  drawings,  but  serve  to 
bring  out  the  essential  ideas  and  plan  of  the  structure  suffi- 
ciently to  enable  any  mechanic  to  carry  them  out  on  larger  or 
smaller  scale  to  suit  the  needs  of  the  builder.  Fig.  113  is  a 


Fig.  113.    Longitudinal  section  of  Alwood's  house. 

longitudinal  section  through  the  cellar  room,  and  shows  also  a 
side  elevation  of  the  storeroom  above.  The  two  ventilators  a  a 
rise  through  the  storeroom,  and  are  six  inches  in  diameter  by 
fifteen  feet  long,  thus  insuring  good  draft.  The  air  flue  & 


Virginia   Storage   House. 


455 


enters  under  the  foundation  and  discharges  fresh  air  into  the 
cellar  room  near  the  center.  This  flue  is  six  inches  in  diam- 
eter, and  theoretically  should  be  extended  far  enough  along  the 
hillside  to  admit  of  tempering  the  air  to  the  temperature  of  the 


;:<ir  ri  iSMt  IlltlVt 


Fig.  114.    Ground  plan. 


surrounding  earth  while  passing  through  it.  The  cellar  built 
here  has  an  air  flue  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  and 
we  have  never  been  able  to  cool  the  air  down  below  60°  Fahr. 
when  the  temperature  of  the  outside  air  is  above  70°  Fahr. 

"The  dotted  line  h  h  shows  the  contour  of  the  hillside,  and 
the  line  i  shows  the  entry-way  into  the  cellar.  The  entry-way 
should  preferably  be  on  the  north  side  of  the  structure,  and 
should  be  closed  in  by  a  vestibule,  so  as  to  protect  the  cellar- 
way  from  storm,  and  to  prevent  influence  of  outside  temperature 
upon  the  atmosphere  in  the  cellar. 

"The  roof  structure  of  vestibule  is  shown  at  d,  and  one  of 
the  side  walls  of  the  entry-way  at  e.  The  floor  of  the  cellar 
//  pitches  slightly  to  the  mouth  of  the  air  flue  b,  which  serves 
as  a  drain  pipe  when  one  is  needed.  The  cellar  floor  is  made 
of  broken  stone  and  cement,  and  successfully  checks  the  upward 
rise  of  ground  water.  The  bins  c  c  and  c'  on  one  side  of  the 
cellar  room  are  shown,  with  dimensions.  They  are  constructed 
of  two  by  four  scantling  and  one  inch  oak  boards.  At  c'  the 
facing  on  lower  bin  is  shown  in  position.  When  we  desire  to 
fill  the  bins  additional  facing  boards  are  used.  The  letters  k  k 


456  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

at  lower  ends  of  ventilating  flues  indicate  position  of  sliding 
dampers,  by  means  of  which  the  flow  of  air  from  the  cellar  is 
effectually  controlled.  With  the  short  flue  used  in  the  cellar 
here,  we  find  that  when  the  mercury  remains  below  20°  Fahr.  for 
any  length  of  time  the  cellar  will  be  reduced  below  freezing, 
unless  the  ventilators  are  closed. 

"The  dimensions  of  the  ground  plan  of  the  cellar  are  shown 
in  Fig.  114.  The  letters  so  far  as  used  always  indicate  the 
same  part  of  the  structure  in  the  several  figures.  This  figure 
Shows  the  walls  to  be  constructed  of  stone,  which  is  unquestion- 
ably the  proper  material.  In  our  building,  which  was  con- 
structed to  test  the  practicability  of  an  idea  new  to  this  class  of 
structures,  expense  was  avoided  so  far  as  possible,  and  the  walls 
are  built  of  wood.  The  framing  of  the  walls  is  constructed  of 
two  by  four  scantling  framed  into  sills  laid  in  broken  stone  and 
cement.  The  corner  posts  are  four  by  four  scantling.  This 
frame  is  covered  outside  by  a  double  sheathing  of  inch  oak 
plank.  The  first  course  was  put  on  diagonal  and  covered  with 
strong  builder's  paper,  and  over  this  a  perpendicular  course  of 
sheathing  was  put  on.  The  whole  structure  was  then  literally 
soaked  with  crude  petroleum,  and  the  earth  rammed  in  tight 
around  the  cellar  story  and  banked  up,  so  as  to  carry  surface 
water  away  from  the  walls.  Inside  the  walls  were  covered  with 
inch  oak  boards,  'and  the  bins  constructed  as  indicated  in  the 
drawings.  The  entry-way  to  the  cellar  is  wide  enough  to  admit 
of  backing  a  horse -cart  or  wagon  down  into  the  cellar,  so  as  to 
unload  directly  from  it.  This  is  a  matter  of  much  convenience 
to  the  workmen.  The  width  of  the  cellar  floor  will  permit  of  a 
row  of  barrels  being  placed  in  front  of  the  bins  and  yet  admit 
the  vehicle. 

"A  series  of  observations  on  the  range  of  temperature  in  the 
cellar  was  made  during  November,  December,  January  and  part 
of  February,  and  the  results  are  summarized  below.  The  ven- 
tilator and  the  supply  air  flue  were  all  left  open  from  November 
1  to  December  10.  The  outside  air  temperature  registered  28° 
on  the  morning  of  the  first  of  November,  and  the  cellar  showed 
a  temperature  of  46°  Fahr.  As  the  month  progressed,  a  period 


Virginia   Storage   House.  457 

of  warm  weather  set  in,  without  a  drop  to  freezing  from  the  7th 
until  the  24th  of  the  month.  During  this  time  the  temperature 
often  registered  above  60°  in  the  shade,  with  maximum  readings 
considerably  higher.  The  cellar  temperature  varied  just  12°  for 
the  entire  month,  reaching  58°  on  two  occasions,  but  closing  the 
month  at  46°,  with  outside  temperature  at  34°.  During  Decem- 
ber the  cellar  temperature  was  reduced  quite  steadily  from  45°  to 
38°,  the  daily  variations  being  at  most  2°.  Outside  temperature 
varied  considerably,  but  the  range  was  between  15°  and  46°. 
Quite  a  number  of  observations  was  made  on  the  working  of  the 
supply  flue  and  the  ventilators.  The  tests  made  showed  that  air 
passed  through  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  supply  flue  in 
thirty  to  forty  seconds,  and  the  ventilators  could  be  depended 
upon  at  all  times  to  keep  up  a  movement  of  air  in  the  cellar  so 
as  to  draw  a  fresh  supply.  In  fact,  during  the  coldest  weather  we 
frequently  closed  the  ventilators  to  prevent  the  too  rapid  lowering 
of  the  temperature  in  the  cellar.  The  tests  showed  that  this  short 
flue  could  not  be  depended  upon  to  raise  the  air  to  a  proper 
temperature  when  the  mercury  outside  was  at  15°  or  lower.  Our 
observations  showed  that  the  air  was,  under  these  circumstances, 
raised  about  20°,  varying,  of  course,  with  conditions.  During 
January  further  experiments  showed  that  we  could  quite  easily 
reduce  the  cellar  temperature  to  35°  when  the  outside  air  regis- 
tered 15°  to  20°.  However,  the  building  proves  to  be  lacking  in 
two  essentials  to  hold  the  cellar  temperature  stable;  viz.,  it  is 
not  deep  enough  in  the  earth,  and  the  floor  between  it  and  the 
tool-room  above  is  not  properly  laid.  This  floor  is  made  double, 
of  half-inch  stuff,  while  we  now  see  that  the  cellar-room  should 
also  be  ceiled  in  the  best  possible  manner,  to  prevent  interference 
by  outside  changes  of  temperature.  The  total  range  in  the  cellar 
during  January  was  35°  to  42°.  This  result  was,  however,  se- 
cured by  carefully  watching  the  conditions,  so  as  to  admit  cold 
air  during  the  night  or  periods  of  low  temperature  and  then  clos- 
ing the  flues  when  the  outside  temperature  would  act  injuriously 
upon  the  temperature  of  the  cellar.  With  the  temperature  fluc- 
tuations which  prevail  in  this  region,  much  attention  is  necessary 
to  properly  control  the  conditions  in  the  cellar." 


458  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

Alcoholic  vapor  as  a  fruit -preservative. — In  connec- 
tion with  cold  storage,  it  may  be  possible  to  experi- 
ment with  the  "new  process  for  keeping  fruit  fresh," 
which  was  published  in  1895  by  the  Department  of 
State  (Bureau  of  Statistics,  by  Henry  P.  DuBellet, 
Consul  at  Rheims,  France),  and  distributed  by  the 
Division  of  Pomology  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture : 

"The  great  difficulty  experienced  in  preserving  fruits  in  their 
natural  state  is  such  that  the  dealers  who  make  the  attempt  of 
furnishing  them  out  of  season  are  compelled,  on  account  of  the 
heavy  losses  they  sustain,  to  sell  their  goods  at  prices  which  ren- 
der it  impossible  for  the  great  majority  of  families  to  place  fresh 
fruits  on  their  tables  during  the  winter  months.  The  high  prices 
which  fresh  fruits  command  on  the  city  markets  increase  day  by 
day  from  the  time  they  are  gathered,  and  have  induced  orchard 
and  vine  owners  to  run  many  risks  in  order  to  keep  their  fruits 
as  long  as  possible  before  offering  them  for  sale.  And  it  is  not 
surprising  that  no  pains,  efforts,  and  sacrifices  are  spared  to 
reach  the  coveted  result,  when  it  is  known  that  during  these  last 
years,  first-class  grapes  sold  from  2  to  4  francs  (38.6  to  77.2 
cents)  per  kilogram  (2.2  pounds)  from  September  to  November, 
that  they  were  worth  8  francs  ($1.53.4)  and  as  much  as  12  francs 
($2.31.6)  in  February  and  March,  and  14  francs  ($2.70)  in  April 
and  May. 

"These  exorbitant  prices  show  plainly  how  imperfect  are  yet 
the  means  employed  for  keeping  fruits  fresh,  how  few  must  be 
the  successful  efforts,  and  how  many  the  difficulties  encountered. 
The  solution  of  this  question  is,  therefore,  of  great  interest  to 
all,  and  the  result  of  the  experiments  made  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  year  1894  and  lately  reported  to  the  Horticultural  Society  of 
Soissons  by  Mr.  A.  Petit,  chief  of  the  laboratory  of  horticultural 
researches  at  the  National  Horticultural  School  of  Versailles,  de- 
serves the  attention  and  consideration  of  fruit-growers  through- 
out the  United  States. 


Alcoholic    Vapor   to   Preserve   Fruit.  459 

"Impressed  with  the  powerful  action  of  alcoholic  vapors  on  the 
mold  which  generally  appears  on  the  surface  of  fruits  in  a  damp 
atmosphere,  Mr.  Petit  noticed  that  pears  and  apples  kept  for  sev- 
eral months  in  a  surrounding  saturated  with  vapors  of  water  and 
alcohol,  even  were  they  at  the  beginning  in  a  state  of  decay, 
showed  no  signs  of  mold,  while  fruits  in  every  particular  identi- 
cally similar  to  the  former,  stored  under  the  same  conditions,  but 
not  exposed  to  the  action  of  alcoholic  vapors,  were  entirely  cov- 
ered with  it. 

"Taking  advantage  of  this  observation,  Mr.  Petit  applied  the 
principle  to  the  preservation  of  fruits  in  general,  and  most  par- 
ticularly to  grapes,  because,  more  than  others,  the  latter  are  sub- 
ject to  mold.  It  was  to  be  foreseen  that  grapes  kept,  from  the 
day  they  are  cut  off  the  vines,  in  an  atmosphere  saturated  with 
vapors  of  water  and  alcohol  would,  by  the  retarding  of  the  sweat- 
ing period,  not  only  remain  free  from  mold,  but  would  even  re- 
tain their  natural  aspect.  Consequently,  should  the  temperature 
be  constant  and  low,  the  preservation  could  be  maintained  long 
and  well. 

"On  the  31st  of  October,  1894— that  is,  very  late  in  the  season 
and  at  a  very  unfavorable  time — Mr.  Petit  placed,  with  other 
fruits  and  a  bottle  filled  with  100  cubic  centimeters  (61  cubic 
inches)  of  alcohol  at  96°,  some  bunches  of  grapes  known  as 
'Chasselas  de  Fontainebleau,'  fresh  from  the  vine,  in  a  brick 
recipient  in  the  form  of  a  parallelepiped,  cemented  inside  and 
closed  as  hermetically  as  possible  by  a  common  wooden  door. 
In  two  similar  recipients  contiguous  to  the  first,  one  of  which 
was  kept  open  and  the  other  closed,  but  without  alcohol,  were 
stored  similar  fruits  from  the  same  trees  and  vines.  The  fruits 
were  laid  on  wood  shavings.  The  recipients  were  built  in  a  very 
damp  cellar,  the  temperature  of  which  varied  regularly  from  10° 
to  8°  C.  (50°  to  46|°  F.)  during  the  whole  time  the  experiment 
lasted. 

"  On  November  20,  the  grapes  placed  in  the  recipent  left  open, 
and  especially  so  those  in  the  closed  recipient  without  alcohol, 
•vere  mostly  rotten  and  covered  with  mold,  and  were  immediately 
removed.  In  the  recipient  containing  the  bottle  of  alcohol,  the 


460  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

grapes  were  beautiful  ;  on  one  bunch,  two  grapes  had  turned 
brown,  but  were  firm,  full,  and  free  of  mold;  they  did  not  taste 
at  all  sour,  thus  differing  essentially  from  moldy  grapes,  espe- 
cially those  subject  to  Penicillium  glaucum.  The  hair  hygrometer 
in  the  recipient  registered  98°.  On  December  7,  the  bunches  of 
grapes  in  the  recipient  containing  the  alcohol  had  kept  their  fine 
aspect ;  on  most  of  them,  however,  one  or  two  grapes  had  turned 
brown,  and  were  in  the  same  condition  as  those  above  referred  to. 
On  December  24,  same  results ;  on  most  of  the  bunches  could 
be  seen  one  or  two  grapes  commencing  to  decay.  At  the  end 
of  nearly  two  months,  each  bunch  had  lost  but  from  two  to  four 
grapes  each  and  all  were  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation,  the 
stalks  being  perfectly  green  and  the  grapes  firm,  full,  and  savory, 
and  having  all  the  qualities  of  fresh-cut  grapes. 

"At  the  conclusion  of  the  experiment,  28  cubic  centimeters 
(17  cubic  inches)  of  alcohol  at  60°  remained  in  the  bottle  out  of 
the  100  cubic  centimeters  (61  cubic  inches)  at  96°,  but,  as  Mr. 
Petit  remarks,  the  door  of  his  recipient  had  not  been  built  with 
great  care  and  did  not  close  hermetically,  hence  a  useless  con- 
sumption of  alcohol. 

"This  process  offers  many  advantages.  It  is  simple,  easy  of 
application,  and  cheap,  and,  if  adopted  by  our  fruit-growers, 
would  allow  them  not  only  to  hold  their  fine  fruits  until  they  can 
dispose  of  them  at  a  fair  price,  but  would  also  insure  them  hand- 
some profits  during  the  winter  months." 

Beckwith  makes  the  following  note*  upon  this 
method :  "  For  the  purpose  of  testing  the  process  as 
described  in  the  above  circular,  two  fully  ripened 
branches  of  Norfolk  grapes  were  placed,  together 
with  two  ounce  bottles  filled  with  alcohol,  upon  a 
large  pane  of  glass  and  covered  with  a  glass  bell 
jar.  The  grapes  thus  prepared  were  placed  upon  a 
table  in  my  laboratory,  where  they  remained  until 
December  18,  perfectly  sound  and  plump  in  appear- 

*  Eighth  Ann.  Rep.  Del.  Exp.  Sta.,  110. 


Tlie    Grower  and   the    Consumer.  461 

ance,  but  had  changed  to  a  slightly  darker  brown 
color.  The  flesh  was  sound  and  firm,  and  still  re- 
tained nearly  its  normal  flavor.  The  grapes  re- 
rnainded  under  the  treatment  until  February  10, 
when  they  were  removed.  At  this  date,  nearly  all 
of  the  grapes  were  firm  and  plump,  a  few  having 
become  somewhat  shriveled.  They  had  a  peculiar 
alcoholic  taste,  having  entirely  lost  their  normal 
flavor.  The  flesh  was  very  firm,  and  of  a  light 
brown  color.  The  above  was,  of  course,  a  severe 
test  of  the  process  for  keeping  fruit  fresh,  and 
could  not  be  considered  a  success.  It  is  possible 
that  by  placing  the  fruit  in  a  cool  apartment  it 
could  be  preserved  for  a  considerable  length  of  time 
without  any  great  expense." 

SHIPPING,    AND    REACHING    THE   CONSUMER. 

The  grower  and  the  consumer. — The  means  to  be 
employed  in  reaching  the  consumer  are  such  per- 
sonal matters  that  little  specific  advice  can  be  given 
upon  the  subject ;  and  the  suggestions  which  are 
here  made  are  not  meant  to  apply  to  the  buyers 
of  fruit,  nor  to  .those  growers  who  sell  their  fruit 
to  itinerant  buyers.  It  should  first  be  said  that  the 
fruit  itself  is  the  best  business  card  which  the 
grower  can  have,  in  the  long  run.  Fruit  which  is 
well  grown  and  well  packed  is  already  virtually  sold. 
If  the  consumer  is  convinced  of  the  honesty  and 
good  faith  of  the  grower  and  the  packer,  then  his 
suspicions  are  allayed,  and  he  is  willing  to  purchase 


462  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

freely,  and  at  a  fair  price.  If  the  grower's  name 
is  upon  the  package,  it  becomes  a  guaranty  of  the 
quality  of  the  fruit,  and  the  consumer  buys  confi- 
dently. If,  in  addition  to  this,  there  is  some  neat 
and  unique  label  attached  to  the  package,  the  con- 
sumer will  be  convinced  that  his  grower  is  not 
only  willing  to  be  responsible  for  the  quality  of  the 
fruit,  but  that  he  is  also  a  man  of  business  in- 
stincts. It  has  recently  been  remarked  that  the 
Canadian  apples  which  are  shipped  into  the  Ameri- 
can markets  bring  a  better  price  than  the  domestic 
products,  and  very  largely  for  the  reason  that  the 
law  demands  that  the  fruit  should  be  marked 
"Canadian  grown,"  and  the  grower  ordinarily  places 
his  name  upon  the  parcel.  The  buyer  in  such  case 
knows  who  is  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  prod- 
uct in  case  it  does  not  come  up  to  his  expecta- 
tions. The  time  is  certainly  coming  when  an  in- 
ferior grade  of  fruit  cannot  be  put  upon  the  market 
with  profit.  Competition  is  gradually  increasing, 
and  it  is  only  the  better  grades  which  can  pay  for 
the  expense  of  shipping  and  packages  and  selling, 
and  leave  a  margin  of  profit  to  the  grower. 

The  gist  of  the  successful  distribution  and  sell- 
ing of  fruit  lies  in  searching  out  the  best  markets, 
and  then  in  finding  out  what  the  consumer  wants. 
This  can  be  done  only  by  giving  as  much  atten- 
tion to  the  market  end  of  the  business  as  to  the 
distinctly  agricultural  end  of  it.  The  grower  who 
expects  to  handle  his  own  fruit  directly  should 
visit  the  markets,  and  should  take  particular  pains 


Finding   a   Market,  463 

to  determine  the  especial  types  and  brands  of  fruit 
which  the  consumers  in  that  market  require.  It  is 
generally  true  that  the  fruit-grower  raises  whatever 
comes  handy,  and  sells  it  if  he  can.  It  would  be 
better  business  to  determine  what  the  market  is 
likely  to  demand,  and  then  to  grow  the  article  that 
is  wanted.  The  essence  of  modern  trade  is  the 
specialization  of  business  and  the  individualizing  of 
the  consumer.  The  person  who  has  much  fruit  of 
good  quality  to  sell  should  begin  to  look  up  his 
markets  some  weeks  in  advance  of  the  market  sea- 
son ;  and  he  will  ordinarily  do  well  to  sell  some- 
what by  sample.  Regulation  packages,  with  his  ac- 
customed grade  of  fruit,  may  be  sent  here  and  there 
to  dealers  and  consumers,  to  represent  the  product 
which  he  has  for  sale.  Much  of  the  success  of 
this  type  of  marketing  depends  upon  the  quantity 
which  the  grower  can  provide.  Dealers  ordinarily 
demand  that  the  grower  furnish  them  with  stated 
quantities  of  stated  Varieties ;  and  if  the  grower 
cannot  do  this  he  may  be  unable  to  hold  his  cus- 
tomer, and  must  simply  meet  the  vagaries  of  an 
incidental  trade.  The  grower  or  shipper  should 
notify  his  dealer  in  advance  as  to  the  amount 
and  quality  of  fruit  which  will  be  likely  to  reach 
him  at  any  given  time.  The  dealer  is  then  able 
to  inform  his  customers  and  to  find  an  outlet  for 
the  product.  It  should  be  remarked  that  this 
matter  of  finding  a  market  is  a  perennial  enter- 
prise ;  that  is,  it  is  one  which  must  be  renewed 
every  year,  for  the  market  of  one  year  may  not 


464  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

be  the  best  market  for  the  following  year.  The 
market  details  should  be  followed  up  with  the  same 
thoroughness  which  the  grower  gives  to  the  new 
development  in  varieties,  and  in  means  of  contend- 
ing with  fungi  and  insects. 

The  selection  of  the  middleman,  through  whom 
the  fruits  are  to  be  sold,  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant features  in  the  whole  range  of  fruit  market- 
ing. The  first  requisite  is  that  this  man  should  be 
honest  and  capable.  Then  the  grower  should  place 
great  confidence  in  his  judgment,  for,  as  he  is 
nearer  the  point  of  consumption,  his  advice  should 
be  worth  much  more  than  the  judgment  of  one 
who  is  far  away.  Too  many  growers  are  guided 
in  their  selection  of  a  merchant  by  high  quotations 
and  flattering  letters  which  are  sent  out  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fruit  season,  but  it  is  often  true 
that  the  man  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  season 
makes  the  most  moderate  and  conservative  quota- 
tions, is  the  one  who  secures*  the  most  profit  for 
the  grower  in  the  end.* 

If  one  is  to  reach  special  and  personal  markets, 
the  small  package  is  nearly  always  advisable ;  but 
in  the  wholesale  and  impersonal  methods  of  market- 
ing, the  large  package  will  no  doubt  prove  to  be 
the  most  economical,  not  only  because  it  costs  less 
for  a  certain  quantity  of  fruit,  but  because  the  ex- 
pense of  packing  is  less.  In  the  early  daj's  of 
commercial  fruit  shipping  in  this  country,  the  large 

*For  a  sketch  of  the  rise  of  the  auction  system  of  selling  fruits  in  this 
country,  see  Annals  of  Horticulture  for  1892,  p.  40. 


Sizes   of  Packages.  465 

package  for  peaches  and  other  tender  fruits  was 
commonly  used.  Peaches  were  shipped  almost  wholly 
in  bushel  baskets.  With  the  increase  and  speciali- 
zation of  the  business,  however,  smaller  packages 
were  in  demand,  and  in  some  of  the  largest  peach 
regions  of  the  country,  the  product  was  finally 
shipped  in  fifth  and  sixth -bushel  baskets.  Now  that 
the  production  has  come  to  be  enormous,  however, 
and  the  returns  to  the  individual  grower  are  com- 
paratively light,  there  has  again  arisen  a  demand 
for  the  large  package.  All  this  is  well  illustrated 
in  the  Lake  Michigan  region,  in  which  the  bushel 
basket  has  recently  come  into  great  use.  The  prob- 
ability is  that  if  the  low  price  of  grapes  continues 
for  a  few  years,  there  will  arise  a  great  demand 
for  a  larger  package.  The  individual  grower  who 
has  a  special  market  to  reach,  however,  will  still 
find  that  the  small  package  is  as  useful  as  ever, 
and  it  may  perhaps  have  an  added  advantage  be- 
cause of  its  contrast  with  the  larger  ones  in  com- 
mon use.  There  is  likely  to  be,  therefore,  a  differ- 
entiation in  the  use  of  fruit  packages,  tending  upon 
the  one  side  towards  a  larger  wholesale  package, 
and  on  the  other  towards  a  small  retail  and  per- 
sonal package. 

It  should  be  said  in  passing  that  one  reason  why 
the  small  package  falls  into  disfavor  is  because  the 
fruit  is  so  completely  packed  by  hand  that  there  is 
a  great  temptation  on  the  part  of  the  grower  to 
include  fruits  of  poor  quality,  or  at  least  not  to 
keep  up  the  standard  of  an  arbitrary  grade.  When 

EE 


466  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

large  packages  are  used,  and  the  grades  are  not  so 
carefully  made,  there  is  less  reason  for  finding  fault 
with  a  few  poor  fruits.  It  is  also  true  that  many  of 
the  packages,  especially  in  the  handling  of  peaches, 
have  been  too  small  to  allow  of  thoroughly  honest 
packing.  This  is  true  of  the  fifth  and  sixth -bushel 
baskets  especially.  They  are  either  too  high  or  too 
low  to  allow  a  given  number  of  full  tiers  of  fruit 
to  be  placed  in  them,  and  in  order  to  bring  the  top 
layer  up  to  its  required  height,  it  is  often  necessary 
to  insert  a  layer  of  small  fruits  somewhere  below 
the  top  ;  and  this  small  fruit  is  commonly  placed  in 
the  middle,  because  the  packer  cannot  always  dis- 
cover if  he  must  use  it  until  the  package  is  par- 
tially filled. 

In  the  distribution  of  fruit,  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  the  establishing  of  a  reputation  for 
the  fruit  is  quite  as  important  as  the  securing  of 
a  remunerative  price  for  the  present  samples;  there- 
fore, the  inferior  fruits  and  culls  should  be  kept 
in  the  home  markets,  or  manufactured  into  cider  or 
other  secondary  products  ;  or,  if  shipped,  they  should 
be  placed  upon  the  market  without  guaranty  and 
without  the  grower's  name.  They  are  then  sold 
simply  upon  their  merits,  without  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  grower's  name  or  any  attractive  label 
or  description. 

Refrigerator  cars. — Fruit  which  is  of  superior 
quality  will  pay  for  considerable  extra  effort  in 
transportation.  If  it  is  of  a  perishable  nature,  and 
the  market  is  more  than  six  or  eight  hours  away, 


Refrigerator    Cars.  467 

it  may  pay  to  ship  in  iced  cars,  particularly  if  the 
weather  is  very  warm.  In  shipping  fruit  in  iced 
cars,  it  is  important  to  know  that  the  car  should 
be  iced  some  time  in  advance  of  its  receiving  the 
fruit.  This  is  for  the  purpose  of  completely  cool- 
ing off  the  car.  The  ice  should  be  put  in  at  least 
six  hours  in  advance  of  the  loading,  if  possible,  and 
a  longer  time  is  very  often  advisable.  The  trans- 
portation companies  should  be  notified  in  advance  of 
the  number  and  route  of  the  cars  which  are  ship- 
ping, in  order  that  the  ice  may  be  renewed  at  the 
necessary  intervals.  It  may  be  said,  also,  that  the 
car  should  not  be  completely  filled  with  fruit.  The 
upper  part  of  the  car  is  apt  to  be  very  hot, 
especially  in  summer,  and  if  space  is  left  above 
the  fruit  there  is  better  opportunity  for  ventilation. 
About  three  hundred  bushels  of  fruit  in  bushel 
packages  should  be  the  limit  of  the  amount  in  any 
one  car. 

Earle    writes*    as    follows    upon     shipping    in    re- 
frigerated cars  : 

"Many  difficulties  and  much  prejudice  were  formerly  en- 
countered in  shipping  fruits  under  refrigeration.  Dealers  and 
buyers  were  afraid  to  handle  fruits  that  had  been  on  ice, 
claiming  that  they  would  melt  down  and  spoil  as  soon  as 
they  were  removed  to  the  warmer  air.  This  belief  was  wide- 
spread and  deeply  seated,  and  it  has  taken  much  time  and 
many  practical  demonstrations  to  fully  convince  the  trade  of 
its  falsity.  It  probably  originated  in  attempts  to  save  fruit, 
that  was  already  over-ripe,  and  on  the  verge  of  spoiling,  by 
placing  it  in  the  ice-box.  Such  fruit  will  be  preserved  for 

*F.  S.  Earle,  Bull.  79,  Ala.  Exp.  Sta. 


468  The   Principles   of  Fruit -growing. 

some  time,  if  kept  cold  enough,  for  cold  arrests  the  growth 
of  the  organisms  of  decay.  The  decay  is  only  arrested,  how- 
ever, for  these  organisms  are  not  killed  by  the  cold,  and  as 
soon  as  such  fruit  is  again  brought  into  a  warm  atmosphere 
they  rapidly  complete  its  destruction.  If,  however,  the  fruit 
is  taken  from  the  field  at  the  proper  stage  of  maturity,  and 
is  placed  at  once  in  a  refrigerator  car,  the  cold  prevents  the 
beginning  of  incipient  decay;  and  the  fruit  will  arrive  at 
its  destination  in  a  condition  to  keep  almost  as  long  after 
taking  it  from  the  car  as  it  would  have  kept  in  the  open 
air  at  the  time  it  was  picked.  Strawberries  must  be  iu  the 
best  possible  condition,  and  the  weather  not  too  hot,  for  them 
to  stand  thirty-six  hours'  transportation  by  express;  or,  in 
other  words,  for  them  to  reach  market  in  good  condition  on 
the  second  morning  after  picking.  In  the  writer's  experience, 
strawberries  have  been  repeatedly  sent  from  southern  Illinois 
to  Detroit,  a  three-days'  run,  by  refrigerator  freight,  and  have 
been  successfully  reshipped  by  express  to  Canadian  points  that 
were  not  reached  till  the  second  morning  after  leaving  Detroit. 
"Again,  no  fruit  is  more  perishable  than  a  fully  ripened 
peach ;  but  peaches  fully  mellow,  and  ready  to  eat,  have  been 
put  in  refrigerator  cars  in  California,  and,  after  a  six-days' 
run  to  Chicago,  have  been  reshipped  by  express  to  New  York, 
reacning  there  in  condition  to  bring  good  prices.  Of  course, 
to  endure  such  severe  tests,  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  fruit 
very  carefully  assorted  and  packed.  A  very  few  specked 
peaches  or  rotting  strawberries  would  spoil  an  entire  package 
before  reaching  so  distant  a  market.  Good  judgment,  too,  is 
necessary  in  picking  fruit  at  the  proper  stage  of  maturity  for 
refrigerator  shipment.  Of  course,  it  should  not  be  too  ripe, 
but  the  mistake  is  much  more  often  made  of  picking  it  too 
green.  In  shipping  by  freight  in  open  cars,  it  is  often  nec- 
essary to  pick  rather  green,  but  with  most  fruits  this  is  done 
'at  great  sacrifice  of  quality.  Under  refrigeration,  fully  ma- 
tured ripe  fruit  will  keep  better  than  that  which  is  grass 
green.  This  is  an  important  point  in  favor  of  refrigeration, 
and  one  that  many  growers  do  not  understand,  for  it  enables 


Earle    on    Refrigerator    Cars.  469 

fruit  to  be  put  on  the  market  after  its  full  flavor  and  qual- 
ity has  been  developed.  The  flat,  insipid  quality,  and  lack 
of  flavor  so  often  noticed  in  California  fruits  on  the  eastern 
markets,  comes  very  largely  from  the  pernicious  habit  of  green 
picking.  A  peach  that  is  ripe  enough  to  be  fully  mellow  is 
hard  to  handle  without  bruising,  but  they  should  hang  on  the 
tree  till  fully  grown  and  colored.  A  peach  that  would  be 
mellow  if  left  on  the  tree  till  to-morrow,  is  in  just  the  right 
condition  to  pick  to-day.  Pears,  on  the  other  hand,  should 
be  picked  green,  at  least  ten  days  to  two  weeks  before  soft- 
ening, and  should  be  ripened  in  a  close,  dark  place.  For 
this  reason,  they  can  be  safely  shipped  in  tight  boxes  or 
barrels  in  open  cars,  unless  it  is  intended  to  place  them  in 
cold  storage  on  arrival.  In  this  case,  they  should  be  shipped 
under  refrigeration,  to  retard  the  ripening  process  as  much 
as  possible. 

"Refrigerator  cars  were  first  built  for  the  meat  trade.  The 
meat  was  hung  in  cold-storage  houses,  and  was  loaded  into  the 
cars  at  or  near  the  freezing  point.  In  a  tight,  well  built  car 
such  a  cold  load  would  warm  up  very  slowly,  and  a  small 
amount  of  ice  served  to  carry  it  safely  to  its  destination.  When 
it  was  attempted  to  use  these  cars  for  fruit,  the  hot  load,  fresh 
from  the  fields,  soon  melted  the  limited  ice  supply,  and  the  cars 
invariably  arrived  heated  and  in  bad  order.  To  use  these  cars 
successfully,  it  was  found  necessary  to  build  cooling  houses  at 
the  shipping  points,  in  which  the  fruit  could  be  cooled  off  be- 
fore loading,  as  in  the  case  of  the  meat.  This  caused  delay  in 
getting  the  fruit  on  the  market,  and  made  much  additional  ex- 
pense. It,  however,  demonstrated  the  success  of  refrigeration 
for  the  transportation  of  fruits,  and  soon  cars  were  built  espe- 
cially for  the  fruit  trade,  with  sufficient  ice  capacity  to  cool  off 
a  load  of  hot  fruit  in  transit,  and  to  keep  it  cool.  At  the 
present  time  there  are  a  number  of  refrigerator  car  lines,  with 
specially  built  fruit  cars,  that  are  actively  competing  for  the 
fruit  and  vegetable  carrying  trade;  so  that  any  point,  having 
sufficient  business  to  offer,  can  secure  efficient  car  service,  with 
competent  men  to  look  after  the  proper  loading  and  icing  of  the 


470  Tlie   Principles   of  Fruit -groiving. 

cars.  Each  line,  of  course,  claims  to  have  the  best  cars;  and 
for  difficult  service  there  would  certainly  be  considerable  choice 
between  them,  but  with  the  numerous  re-icing  stations  that  are 
now  available,  any  of  them  will  give  satisfactory  service,  if 
properly  loaded  and  handled. 

"The  main  points  to  consider  in  selecting  a  refrigerator  car 
for  transporting  produce  are  first,  its  ice  capacity,  and  second, 
its  insulation.  The  ice  tanks  should  hold  at  least  five  tons  of 
ice,  and  six  tons  is  even  better.  The  position  of  the  tanks, 
whether  overhead  or  at  the  ends,  is  a  question  of  minor  im- 
portance. The  car  should  be  tightly  built,  with  double  walls 
and  roof,  with  the  space  between  them  filled  in  with  some  non- 
conducting material,  or  by  numerous  linings  of  building  paper, 
with  dead  air  spaces  between  them.  The  doors  should  be  built 
like  the  walls,  and  be  of  the  same  thickness;  and  they  should 
fit  as  nearly  air-tight  as  possible.  Of  course  the  car  should  be 
sweet  and  clean. 

"It  is  usual  for  the  refrigerator  companies  to  furnish  their 
own  men  for  loading  the  cars,  for  proper  loading  is  a  point  of 
so  much  importance  that  they  do  not  care  to  trust  the  repu- 
tation of  their  cars  to  inexperienced  men.  The  important  points 
to  secure  in  loading  are  first,  that  the  packages  be  so  spaced 
that  the  cold  air  has  immediate  access  to  all  sides  of  them,  and 
second,  that  they  be  so  secured  that  the  load  cannot  shift  by 
the  bumping  of  the  cars  while  in  transit.  These  points  are 
usually  secured  by  piling  the  crates  or  other  packages  one 
above  another  in  tiers  or  ranks,  from  three  to  six  inches 
apart,  and  with  lath  or  strips  between  each  layer.  Strips  are 
placed  upright  against  the  end  of  the  car,  and  a  row  of 
packages  is  placed  on  the  floor,  with  the  ends  set  snugly 
against  these  strips,  and  carefully  spaced.  Light  half-inch 
strips,  as  long  as  the  width  of  the  car,  are  placed  across 
the  ends  of  the  packages;  and  the  front  one  is  nailed  down 
with  a  light  nail  to  the  head  of  each  package,  to  prevent 
side  shifting.  Another  row  of  packages  is  placed  on  these 
strips,  each  one  directly  above  one  in  the  lower  row.  These 
are  again  stripped  and  nailed,  and  so  on  to  the  top.  The 


Associations   and   Pools.  471 

next  course  is  placed  with  the  ends  snugly  against  the  ends 
of  the  first  course,  so  that  the  air  spaces  are  continuous. 
When  the  center  of  the  car  is  reached,  begin  in  the  other 
end  and  load  in  the  same  way.  A  space  will  usually  be 
left  at  the  last,  too  narrow  to  admit  another  course  of  pack- 
ages ;  and  the  car  must  now  be  braced,  to  prevent  the 
courses  from  shifting  endwise.  Pieces  of  one  by  six  inch 
boards  are  set  up  against  the  ends  of  each  rank  of  packages, 
and  other  strips  are  nailed  across  these  uprights,  near  the 
bottom  and  the  top  of  the  car.  The  distance  between  these 
opposite  cross-pieces  is  now  carefully  measured,  and  pieces 
of  board  are  cut  for  braces  about  an  inch  longer  than  this 
space,  so  that  they  will  have  to  be  driven  home  with  con- 
siderable force.  The  braces  are  toe-nailed  in  place,  to  pre- 
vent their  falling,  if  they  should  chance  to  loosen  in  the 
bumping  of  the  car.  When  thus  loaded  and  braced,  the  con- 
tents are  absolutely  immovable,  yet  each  package  is  separated 
from  its  neighbors  on  all  sides  by  a  layer  of  cold  air,  which, 
when  it  becomes  warmed  by  the  hot  fruit,  rises,  and  is  car- 
ried by  the  currents  thus  generated  to  the  ice,  where  it  is 
qiiickly  cooled  again,  and  where  it  deposits  the  moisture  that 
may  have  been  taken  up  from  the  fruit.  This  rapid  circu- 
lation of  the  air  is  very  important,  and  the  ice,  instead  of 
making  the  fruit  damp,  as  might  at  first  be  thought,  really 
serves  to  dry  it  very  effectually." 

Shipping  associations.  —  In  many  parts  of  the 
country,  the  grower,  if  he  is  a  good  business  man, 
can  find  a  special  market  for  all  that  he  can  raise  ; 
but,  in  general,  it  is  no  doubt  true  that  a  thoroughly 
competent  organization  of  fruit  men  is  the  best 
means  through  which  to  distribute  fruit.  Such  an 
organization  should  make  it  a  particular  business  to 
determine  just  where  the  best  markets  are,  and  to 
make  out  lists  of  those  towns  which  are  within 
practicable  reach  of  the  fruit  region,  with  the  popu- 


472  TJie   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

lation  and  the  consuming  capacity  of  each,  the 
transportation  rates  thereto,  and  all  incidental  mat- 
ters which  are  likely  to  influence  the  market  from 
day  to  day.  Having  such  information  before  it,  the 
association,  if  it  has  the  shipping  of  the  larger  part 
of  the  fruit  of  any  region,  can  place  such  quantity 
in  each  city  or  town  as  can  be  consumed,  and 
thereby  prevent  the  glutting  of  the  markets.  All 
this  can  be  done  only  when  the  system  of  organi- 
zation is  exceedingly  thorough  and  when  the  growers 
are  willing  to  cooperate;  but  it  would  likely  be  a 
mistake  for  any  organization  to  expect  to  enlist  in 
such  an  enterprise  those  fruit-growers  who  are  able 
to  find  special  and  personal  markets  for  themselves, 
as  indicated  in  the  next  paragraph.  Such  growers 
are  ordinarily  so  few,  however,  that  they  do  not 
influence  the  general  market  conditions. 

Much  has  been  said  during  the  past  few  years 
about  the  shipping  of  fruit  in  pools  or  unions. 
"When  the  market  is  very  far  removed  from  the 
producer,  so  that  transportation  rates  are  high, 
an  organization  of  interests  is  often  necessary.  In 
districts  which  are  so  far  from  markets  as  the 
Pacific  coast,  it  is  necessary  that  a  man  have  either 
a  large  quantity  of  fruit  to  ship  or  that  he  ship 
in  conjunction  with  his  neighbors;  or,  that  he  sell 
his  fruit  outright  to  buyers.  In  districts  which  are 
close  to  market,  it  is  rarely  advantageous  to  the 
growers  of  the  very  finest  fruits  to  ship  through 
pools  or  unions.  The  difficulty  is  that  the  best  fruit 
is  sold  for  about  the  same  price  that  the  poor  fruit 


Shipping   in    Pools.  473 

is,  and  it  is  very  rare  that  all  •  the  growers  of  any 
locality  pack  their  fruit  in  the  same  degree  of  ex- 
cellence. If  the  union  were  to  exercise  very  strin- 
gent oversight  over  the  packing,  this  difficulty  might 
be  overcome.  If,  for  example,  the  fruit  were  brought 
to  the  union  in  the  trays  or  crates  directly  from 
the  field,  and  were  then  re -packed  uniformly  before 
shipment,  and  each  grower  paid  for  the  exact  amount 
of  good  fruit  which  he  delivers,  the  union  might 
prove  to  be  very  advantageous,  because  there  should 
be  an  economy  in  the  purchase  of  baskets,  in  the 
cost  of  packing,  in  transportation  rates,  and  also  in 
the  finding  of  the  best  markets.  The  unsatisfactory 
results  which  have  arisen  from  fruit  unions  have 
not  come  from  inherent  difficulties  in  the  system 
so  much  as  from  the  lack  of  a  thorough  business 
system  of  oversight  to  the  packing  and  grading  of 
all  the  different  samples  which  are  submitted. 

The  number  of  persons  who  can  and  will  grow 
a  dessert  quality  of  fruit  is  very  few,  and  such 
persons  can  really  not  afford  to  pool  their  interests 
with  the  common  run  of  fruit-growers.  These  per- 
sons are  the  ones  who  find  special  markets  here 
and  there,  and  they  should  use  special  and  personal 
means  of  disposing  of  their  produce.  The  more 
cities  there  are  within  a  given  distance,  and  the 
greater  the  number  of  transportation  lines,  the 
greater  are  the  chances  that  a  man  will  be  able  to 
find  a  personal  and  special  market  for  his  produce. 

An  illustration  of  a  fruit  market. — A  knowledge 
of  the  destination  of  fruit  after  it  reaches  a 


474  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

metropolis  should  aid  growers  and  shippers  in  com- 
prehending the  needs  of  the  market.  The  following 
is  a  graphic  description  of  fruit -selling  in  Chicago:* 

"The  distribution  of  the  supplies  furnished  by 
the  fruit-grower,  whether  direct  or  through  the 
agency  of  others,  has  gradually  become  a  complex 
and  complete  system.  Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  use 
the  term  'complex,'  as  each  step  is  well  defined 
and,  after  all,  simple,  but  I  think  but  few  fruit- 
growers have  any  idea  of  how  complete  it  is,  and 
to  what  distances  fruit  is  exported, — the  only  limit 
being  the  cost  and  ability  of  the  consumer  to  pay 
prices  commensurate  with  the  expenses  and  risks. 

"Practically  all  receipts  are  taken  from  the  depots 
or  docks  to  the  various  places  of  business  as  early 
as  practicable  after  the  arrival  of  the  train  or 
steamer.  To  make  the  matter  clearer,  let  us  illus- 
trate by  using  letters  in  place  of  names.  A,  a 
shipper,  consigns  to  B,  his  correspondent,  a  ship- 
ment of  fruit.  On  arrival,  B  has  his  spring  wagons 
in  waiting,  and  takes  it  to  his  place  of  business  on 
South  Water  street.  There,  with  other  lots  of  fruit 
of  different  grades,  qualities  and  conditions,  it  is 
examined  and  offered  for  sale.  The  largest,  finest, 
and  every -way -select  lots  are  taken  by  the  retail 
grocers  whose  patronage  is  among  the  'upper  ten/ 
to  whom  money  is  no  object,  apparently.  The  grade 
must  be  of  the  very  best,  quality  superior  and  con- 
dition perfect.  Less  than  5  per  cent  of  the  total 

*Mr.  Barnett,  of  Barnett  Bros.,  before  Mich.  Hort.  Soc.,  Dec.,  1896,  as  re- 
ported in  the  Horticultural  Gazette,  Allegan,  Mich.,  for  Dee.  19,  1896. 


The    Chicago   Market.  475 

receipts  meets  the  conditions  exacted,  so  that  the 
amount  that  can  be  disposed  of  to  this  class  of 
bmTers  is  limited,  and  their  requirements  are  also 
about  in  the  same  proportion. 

"The  next  grade  is  of  really  good  quality  and 
good  condition,  so  that  it  can  be  handled  with  a 
reasonable  degree  of  safety,  and  good  for,  say, 
twenty-four  hours'  transit  to  other  points,  or  to  be 
handled  safely  by  the  average  retail  grocer  who 
supplies  the  well-to-do  classes.  The  competition  for 
this  class  of  fruit  is  the  greatest,  and  often  a  sale 
turns  on  the  condition  only,  the  shipper  often  turn- 
ing from  a  good  line  of  fruit  and  accepting  some- 
thing not  so  desirable  in  quality,  to  secure  that 
which  will  reach  his  customers  in  good  condition. 
It  is  very  much  better  to  have  a  medium  grade  of 
quality  in  good  condition  than  a  fancy  line  of  fruit 
as  to  flavor,  size,  etc.,  worthless  on  account  of  de- 
cay. That  fruit  which  lacks  the  carrying  qualities 
desired  by  the  shipper  is  just  right  for  the  retail 
dealer,  and,  as  a  rule,  will  class  good  to  choice. 

"There  are  then  left  the  inferior  grades,  both  as 
to  quality  and  condition.  For  these,  buyers  are 
found  among  the  grocery  keepers  in  the  poorer  sec- 
tions of  the  city, —  among  the  foreign  populations. 
They  are  good  judges  of  fruit,  and  buy  to  meet  the 
wants  of  their  customers.  With  them,  also,  there 
are  the  peddlers,  a  numerous  class  and  an  influen- 
tial one,  whose  trade  is  necessary  in  handling  large 
receipts.  These  latter  also  use  the  refuse,  the  'off 
condition '  of  all  grades,  and  the  poorest  qualities 


476  The   Principles  of  Fruit-growing. 

that  arrive,  or  that  become  in  poor  condition  after 
arrival,  as  well  as  a  respectable  portion  of  the  better 
grades,  for  they  sometimes  carry  a  very  good  quality. 

"  Let  us  trace  these  different  classes  a  little 
further,  bearing  in  mind  carefully  that  there  is  no 
arbitrary  grading,  the  perishable  qualities  of  fruit  at 
times  making  the  'fancy'  of  5  A.  M.  the  '  peddler' s- 
stock'  at  5  P.  M.  Let  us  suppose  C  is  a  retail 
dealer  having  the  best  patronage.  He  selects  what 
he  needs  (carefully  paying  no  more  than  he  can 
help — which  remark  also  applies  to  all),  has  it  set 
aside,  and  sends  his  wagon  for  it  as  soon  as  he  has 
completed  his  purchases.  Arriving  at  his  store,  the 
fruit  is  temptingly  displayed  to  catch  the  eye,  and 
from  his  stock  he  fills  his  orders,  taken  often  with- 
out the  price  being  named  in  advance,  quality  being 
the  chief  requirement,  sends  to  his  customer,  and 
charges  it  up  to  his  account.  The  transaction  is 
completed — all  but  collecting  the  bill.  Many  paj-; 
many  do  not,  and  during  the  last  thirty  years,  of 
all  I  have  known,  in  the  strictly  fancy  trade,  less 
than  a  dozen  have  earned  a  competence.  But  little 
net  profit  remains  with  them. 

"The  retail  dealer,  D,  who  supplies  the  middle 
classes,  with  a  fair  proportion  of  the  well-to-do, 
loads  his  purchase  into  his  wagon,  and  at  once  goes 
home  to  be  ready  for  dinner,  placing  a  moderate 
advance  on  his  purchase  price  as  his  selling  figure. 
He  sells  for  cash  if  he  can,  or  to  his  'book'  cus- 
tomers at  practically  the  same  figure.  He  delivers 
to  his  customer's  home,  if  desired,  but  the  bulk  of 


Description   of  a   Market.  477 

it  is  taken  at  the  time  of  purchase,  and  he  clears 
out  his  stock  as  closely  as  possible.  The  advance 
charged  by  the  retailer  for  his  labor  of  selecting, 
selling,  delivering,  and  collecting  his  accounts  may 
be  roughly  estimated  at  2  cents  per  box  on  small 
fruits,  and  2  cents  per  basket  on  peaches  and  5  cents 
per  peck  on  apples.  This  must  cover  the  loss  by 
decay,  sampling,  etc.,  inevitable  to  the  retail  trade. 
At  times,  when  fruit  is  scarce,  the  profit  charged 
will  be  larger,  and  when  abundant,  less.  Sometimes 
a  'run'  is  made,  and  a  single  dealer  will  buy  one 
hundred  to  three  hundred  baskets  and  sell  at  cost, 
but  I  consider  this  as  advertising. 

"E,  the  peddler  or  huckster,  buys  everything  left. 
It  may  be  'fancy,'  or  'good,'  'out  of  condition,' 
'scrubs,'  'trash' — anything  is  grist  for  his  mill. 
With  equipments,  worth  ten  dollars  for  horse,  wagon, 
and  harness  of  the  Greek  beginner,  up  through  the 
various  grades  to  the  splendid  two -horse  team  and 
$200  wagon  (carrying  supplies  of  all  kinds  and 
manned  by  three  active,  enterprising  men)  of  the  suc- 
cessful huckster,  the  2,500  members  of  that  great  di- 
vision of  distributors  are  powerful  factors.  Taking 
their  purchases  into  their  wagons,  they  at  once  start 
for  their  routes  and  cry  their  wares.  There  can  be 
no  fixed  margin.  They  get  what  they  can,  take  a 
margin,  or  sell  at  cost ;  live  on  the  refuse,  and  prob- 
ably have  only  a  dollar  per  day  on  which  to  sup- 
port a  family.  While  their  transactions  on  the  whole 
are  enormous,  their  profits  are  very  small,  and  with 
long  hours,  penetrating  every  street  and  lane  of  the 


478  The   Principles   of  Fruit-growing. 

city,  they  earn  what  they  get.  There  is  not  a  lane, 
street,  nor  avenue  of  the  city  where  their  voice  is 
not  heard,  not  a  block  but  is  visited  by  their  ram- 
shackled  old  wagon,  their  apology  for  a  horse  with 
his  harness  or  straps  and  strings.  Not  a  house  is 
passed  unnoticed ;  they  are  everywhere,  and  sell  the 
fruit  at  a  margin  so  close  that,  as  I  have  said,  their 
profits  are  exceedingly  small.  I  honor  them,  for 
they  are  engaged  in  an  honest  calling ;  I  respect 
them,  for  they  bring  to  the  very  poor,  in  the  poor- 
est sections  of  the  city,  a  taste,  at  least,  of  the 
richest  and  best  offering  of  the  country  to  the  city, 
and  we  use  them  freely  in  our  business  and  treat 
them,  rough,  uncouth,  ragged  and  ignorant  though 
they  may  be,  as  men. 

"There  remains  F,  the  shipper,  whose  aid  is  val- 
uable in  the  disposition  of  the  receipts  from  day  to 
day.  His  selections  have  been  made  on  the  basis  of 
his  orders  in  hand  or  in  prospect.  He  has  carefully 
studied  the  country  that  can  be  reached  from  this 
city,  and  bjr  a  course  of  correspondence  or  personal 
interview  has  built  up  a  clientage  that  orders  from 
him  in  such  quantities  as  may  be  sold  profitably. 
The  entire  northwest  has  been  carefully  studied,  and 
from  central  Illinois  to  middle  Missouri,  western 
Iowa,  central  Minnesota,  and  all  of  Wisconsin,  orders 
have  been  solicited  and  some  have  been  received. 
Weekly  quotations  are  sent,  some  houses  sending  two 
thousand  to  three  thousand  at  a  single  issue.  These 
reach  every  city,  town,  village,  or  hamlet  within 
reasonable  rail  communication,  and  everything  else  is 


Description   of  Fruit -selling.  479 

out  of  the  question.  He  studies  the  needs  of  each 
customer,  and  having  secured  the  amount  needed  to 
fill  his  orders,  at  once  commences  to  send  by  ex- 
press, and  to  many  points  where  through  freights 
run  the  fruit  goes  largely  in  that  manner.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  there  is  no  spot  within  two  hundred 
miles  of  Chicago  that,  with  fair  means  of  connection 
with  this  market,  can  not  have  a  full  supply  of  fruit. 
"Now,  as  to  the  expense  or  cost  of  these  ship- 
ments. The  broker,  dealer  or  shipper  is  well  satis- 
fied if  he  can  realize  10  per  cent  on  his  purchases. 
Let  the  shipper  of  fruit  to  this  market  consider  what 
it  means.  There  is  the  careful  selection  of  fruit,  the 
marking,  billing,  practically  guaranteeing  of  safe  de- 
livery, chances  of  failure  of  his  far-off  customer  — 
and  collecting  his  bill  at  the  end  of  two  weeks  to 
three  months.  Applying  the  test  to  the  fruit  broker 
or  shipper,  but  few  get  much  more  than  a  living  out 
of  the  business.  The  express  and  freight  companies 
charge  only  a  fair  compensation  for  the  service  per- 
formed. Although  fruit  may  come  high  in  central 
Minnesota  or  northern  Wisconsin,  the  dwellers  in 
those  regions  can  not  reasonably  expect  to  have  fruit 
brought  to  them  without  labor  and  expense." 


APPENDIX. 

/.     HOW   DID    THE    VARIETIES    OF   FRUITS 
ORIGINATE? 

There  is  universal  curiosity  to  know  how  the  various  kinds  of 
fruits  have  originated.  It  seems  to  be  next  to  impossible  to  en- 
lighten the  public  mind  upon  the  question,  for  whatever  detailed  ex- 
planation one  may  give  seems  to  leave  the  questioner  unsatisfied. 
The  real  cause  of  this  dissatisfaction  is  the  fact  that  people  assume 
that  there  is  something  mysterious  about  the  process  of  the  origi- 
nation of  varieties;  and  so  long  as  the  mind  makes  a  mystery  of 
a  subject  it  is  impossible  to  elucidate  it.  We  have  also  been 
taught  that  like  normally  produces  like,  and  therefore  that  any 
unlikeness  between  two  plants  — as  between  the  parent  and  its  off- 
spring—calls for  instant  explanation.  The  fact  is,  that  it  is  not 
the  nature  of  domestic  productions  for  like  to  produce  like,  but 
rather  for  similar  to  produce  similar.  That  is,  there  are  certain 
type  or  family  characteristics  which  pass  over  to  the  offspring,  but 
there  is  normally  almost  endless  unlikenesses  in  the  details.  Apples 
give  rise  to  apples,  and  sometimes  there  is  a  closer  reproductibn 
of  the  parents  in  tribes  like  the  Fameuse  apples  and  the  Crawford 
peaches;  but  there  is  seldom  or  never  an  exact  duplication  of  pa- 
rental features.  Considering  that  this  is  the  normal  law  of  nature, 
it  follows  that  the  wonder  is  that  plants  should  ever  reproduce  the 
variety  with  approximate  exactness.  In  other  words,  rigidity  of 
generation  may  be  the  thing  to  be  explained  rather  than  the  elas- 
ticity of  it.  In  kitchen-gardeu  vegetables  this  rigidity  has  come  about, 
but  it  is  the  direct  result  of  a  long  effort  at  selection  and  breed- 
ing until  the  elasticity  of  the  type  has  been  largely  bred  out.* 

*A  fuller  explanation  of  this  class  of  facts  -will  be  found  on  pages  88, 
89  and  90  of  "Plant-Breeding;"  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  that  work 
and  to  "The  Survival  of  the  Unlike"  for  discussions  of  the  philosophy  of 
plant-breeding  and  of  the  running  out  of  varieties. 

FF  (451) 


482  Appendix. 

Those  persons  who  are  always  wondering  how  the  varieties  of 
fruits  have  come  should  consult  the  records.  History  is  capa- 
ble of  enlightening  them.  If  the  origins  of  varieties  are  traced 
it  will  be  found  that  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  the  variety 
was  simply  discovered,  and  that  some  one  began  to  propagate  it 
because  he  thought  it  to  be  good.  A  tree  springs  up  **long  a 
roadside,  in  the  fence-row,  back  of  the  barn,  in  a  thicket,  and  bears 
acceptable  fruit.  It  is  the  product  of  a  chance  seed  dropped  by  a 
bird  or  thrown  there  by  an  urchin.  A  thousand,  perhaps  ten  thou- 
sand, seeds  produce  trees  which  bear  poor  or  indifferent  products 
where  only  one  bears  superior  fruit.  This  one  good  tree  is  cherished, 
and  all  the  others  are  forgotten,  or  perhaps  are  never  seen  ;  and 
then  we  wonder  why  so  many  more  good  varieties  originate  in  the 
half-wild  places  than  in  the  garden.  It  is  only  because  more  seeds 
have  been  sown  there  ;  and  as  we  do  not  covet  the  ground,  the 
failures  pass  unnoticed.  If  we  should  secure  the  same  results 
in  the  garden  by  the  sowing  of  only  half  the  number  of  seeds, 
we  should  consider  the  experiment  to  be  a  costly  one.  It  is 
probable  that  a  seed  will  produce  the  same  character  of  fruit,  whether 
the  tree  springs  up  in  a  fence-row  or  in  the  garden  ;  and  the  half- 
wild  areas  are,  therefore,  most  useful  and  prolific  places  in  which 
to  allow  nature  to  carry  out  her  various  whims  in  plant-breeding. 
And  if  man  has  been  willing  to  be  relieved  of  all  effort  in  the 
matter,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  he  will  long  continue  of  the  same 
mind,  and  that  this  exploration  for  new  varieties  will  be  a  passion 
of  the  adventurer  until  every  copse  and  tangle  has  been  razed  into 
cultivated  fields. 

There  has  been,  to  be  sure,  an  occasional  direct  attempt  to  pro- 
duce new  varieties,  but  there  has  been  very  little  definite  plant- 
breeding  of  the  type  which  sets  an  ideal  before  the  mind  and  then 
tries  to  attain  to  it.  It  is  not  germane  to  the  present  book  to  dis- 
cuss the  fundamental  reasons  why  plants  vary  and  new  forms  arise. 
These  reasons  are  obscure  at  best,  but  the  greater  part  of  them 
are  probably  not  past  finding  out.  It  is  enough  for  this  occasion 
to  say  that  nearly  all  the  varieties  of  fruits  were  seedlings  found 
in  some  waste  place,  or  in  a  nursery  row  or  a  garden;  and  they 
were  propagated. 


Appendix.  '  483 


//.     REMARKS    ON   CLASSIFYING    AND    DESCRIBING 
FRUITS. 

We  name  the  varieties  of  fruits  in  order  that  we  may  speak  -and 
write  about  them.  Since  the  name  is  a  definite  thing,  it  is  commonly 
assumed  that  the  variety  is  also  a  definite  thing.  It  is  a  fact,  however, 
that  varieties  are  not  definite  or  definable.  This  follows  from  two  facts, 
—that  there  is  no  original  or  necessary  standard  or  measure  of  what 
shall  constitute  a  variety,  and  that  the  variety  may  vary  or  change 
through  the  influence  of  climate  or  other  agencies.  There  are,  there- 
fore, varieties  representing  all  degrees  of  differences,  some  being  so 
unlike  all  others  as  to  be  universally  accepted  as  distinct,  and  some  so 
like  others  as  to  cause  dispute  as  to  whether  they  are  really  varieties  or 
not.  Again,  we  must  not  assume,  because  one  name  has  been  retained 
for  a  certain  stock,  that  the  stock,  therefore,  remains  the  same.  For 
example,  the  fact  that  we  still  use  the  name  Catawba  does  not  prove 
that  the  Catawba  grape  is  the  same  now  as  it  was  when  first  named 
and  disseminated ;  the  King  is  not  the  same  apple  in  Oregon  and  New 
York,  although  the  name  is  the  same  in  both  states,  and  all  the  trees 
have  been  propagated  from  one  original. 

These  remarks  are  made  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  the  facts 
that  the  classifying  and  describing  of  varieties  involve  two  classes 
of  problems,— the  questions  connected  with  the  making  of  the  names 
and  the  systems  (as  the  form  of  the  name,  rules  of  priority,  schemes 
of  classification),  and  those  associated  with  the  natural  history  of 
varieties  (as  to  whether  given  varieties  are  distinct,  the  value  of 
geographical  names  and  synonyms,  and  the  like).  The  practical  ap- 
plication of  these  remarks  is,  that  we  are  not  to  expect  uniform 
exactness,  either  in  the  classifying  of  varieties  or  in  the  describ- 
ing of  them.  We  can  deal  only  with  types,  expecting  that  numerous 
exceptions  will  be  found  to  the  most  painstaking  description,  and  to 
the  most  carefully  made  key.  Varieties  are  not  entities  or  things, 
as  machines  are,  a  fact  which,  though  usually  not  recognized,  has 
been  the  reason  for  the  failure  of  the  many  attempts  to  protect  the 
originator  of  varieties  by  means  of  patent  rights. 

The  first  step  in  making  a  sketch  of  a  variety  is  to  distinguish 
clearly  between  a  description  and  a  characterization.  A  description 
gives  a  full  account  of  all  the  attributes;  a  characterization  gives 
only  those  attributes  which  are  unique  to  the  variety.  For  example, 
ten  kinds  of  cherries  may  be  large,  red  and  heart-shaped;  in  descrip- 
tions, these  three  attributes  are  repeated  for  each  variety;  but  in 


484  Appendix. 


characterizations,  these  attributes  are  omitted  (having  previously  been 
given  in  a  general  sentence),  and  only  those  features  are  mentioned 
which  distinguish  any  variety  from  the  other  nine.  It  follows  that 
when  varieties  are  arranged  alphabetically,  only  descriptions  are  of 
value;  but  when  they  are  arranged  in  some  system  of  classification, 
only  characterizations  are  admissible.  Descriptions  are  easy  to  make: 
one  writes  down  what  he  sees.  Characterizations  are  difficult  to 
draw:  one  must  make  comparisons  of  many  specimens,  and  he  must 
clearly  perceive  an  ideal  type. 

In  making  either  descriptions  or  characterizations,  the  student 
should  consider  the  entire  plant  as  well  as  the  fruit  itself.  The  habit 
of  growth,  the  bark  and  foliage,  the  flowers,  often  have  characteristic 
features  in  different  varieties.  Yet,  since  the  fruit  is  the  main  con- 
sideration, and  since  the  enquirer  can  seldom  have  flowers  and  fruits 
at  the  same  time,  and  often  has  not  even  access  to  the  plant,  it  must 
follow  that  characters  drawn  from  the  fruit  itself  must  form  the 
foundation  of  the  characterization ;  and  these  should  usually  precede 
other  characters  in  the  paragraph.  Similarly,  a  system  of  classifica- 
tion of  the  varieties  of  any  fruit  which  gives  great  emphasis  to  char- 
acters not  drawn  from  the  fruit  itself,  is  fundamentally  weak.  It  is 
to  be  expected,  therefore,  for  example,  that  the  effort  to  classify 
varieties  of  apples  and  pears  by  characters  of  the  stamens  and  styles 
will  never  come  into  popular  use;  but  these  characters  are  no  doubt 
of  great  value  if  they  can  be  used  as  secondary  features  of  descrip- 
tions or  characterizations.  For  studies  of  the  characters  of  stamens 
and  styles  in  pomaceous  fruits,  see  Beal's  various  writings.  (Rep. 
Mich.  Pom.  Soc.  1876,  17.  Am.  Pom.  Soc.  1877;  1879,  27;  1881,  73.) 
Of  ideals  of  classification  founded  on  the  characters  of  the  fruit,  one 
of  the  best  discussions  is  to  be  found  in  Hogg's  "Fruit  Manual" 
(English).  The  student  should  also  consult  Warder  on  "The  Apple," 
and  Thomas'  "American  Fruit  Culturist." 

Since  each  fruit  demands  a  separate  and  usually  distinct  mode  of 
classification  and  characterization,  the  details  of  the  subjects  cannot 
be  considered  here;  but  the  following  extracts  will  show  what  consti- 
tutes a  complete  and  good  description  in  the  mind  of  one  careful  stu- 
dent (Beal,  Proc.  12th  and  13th  Ann.  Meetings  Soc.  Prom.  Agric.  Sci., 
1892,  pp.  25,  28): 

"Crescent  Strawberry.  —  Plant  rather  large,  not  robust,  soft  pubes- 
cent, of  a  light  green  color,  very  hardy  and  vigorous  and  exceedingly 
productive;  runners  rather  slender,  bracts  a  little  above  the  middle; 
leaflets  slightly  involute-comluplicate,  oval,  coarsely  serrate  or  rarely 


Appendix.  485 

doubly  serrate;  peduncle  rather  stout,  raising  the  panicle  nearly  as 
high  as  the  leaves;  panicle  2-4  inches  long,  12-24-flowered  (usually 
about  15-flowered);  lower  bracts  broad,  oval;  sepals  lanceolate  or 
ovate-lanceolate,  the  alternating  bractlets  about  the  same  length; 
petals  orbicular,  or  oval,  4-16  to  5-16  inches  long,  including  a  short 
claw;  stamens  numerous  and  well  developed;  fruit  bright  crimson, 
broad  ovoid  to  round  oblong,  %  inch  long;  moderately  firm;  quality, 
medium;  season  medium. 

"Origin,  Connecticut,  1870. 

"Probably  not  excelled  by  any  variety  for  its  productiveness  on  all 
sorts  of  soils  and  with  every  kind  of  treatment.  Extensively  grown." 

"Cuthbert  Jtaspberry.  —  Pl&nt  tall,  stout,  slightly  glaucous,  prickles 
recurved,  few,  weak,  seldom  more  than  one  mm.  long;  leaves,  some- 
what wrinkled,  light  green  above,  light  green  to  glaucous  green 
below,  under  a  lens  more  or  less  tomentose;  leaflets  large,  doubly 
serrate-dentate,  often  recurved,  those  on  stout  shoots  mostly  five, 
sessile,  puckered  at  the  base,  those  of  bearing  branches  three,  stipules 
45  mm.  long,  erect,  terete,  7-10  of  the  upper  leaves  bearing  1-4 
flowers,  light  red  on  the  upper  side,  pedicles  1.5-2.5  cm.  long  (the 
whole  panicle  20-30  cm.  long),  smooth  or  with  minute  prickles, 
bractlets  1-2  mm.  long;  calyx  destitute  of  prickles,  petals  narrowly 
oval  or  obovate,  4-5  mm.  long,  including  the  very  short  claw;  pistils 
clothed  with  minute  reddish  pubescence;  fruit  ovoid-conic,  6-8  mm. 
long;  base  of  calyx  3-5  mm.  long;  styles,  when  dead,  brown,  bent, 
2.5  mm.  long;  torus  conical,  8  mm.  long,  fruit  red,  very  large  and 
firm,  productive  and  vigorous,  quality  good,  rather  hardy,  season 
medium. 

"Origin,  New  Jersey  or  New  York,  1870." 

A  glossary  of  some  of  the  leading  terms  used  in  describing  fruits 
may  be  useful  to  the  novice.  Of  general  terms,  the  following  may  be 
mentioned:  Phytography,  the  describing  of  plants;  taxonomy,  the 
science  or  practice  of  classification ;  terminology,  the  knowledge  of  the 
terms  or  technical  words  used  in  any  subject;  nomenclature,  the 
knowledge  of  the  names  used  to  designate  any  class  of  objects. 

Leading  terms  used  to  designate  the  shape  of  fruits  are  as  fol- 
lows: Conical,  length  equal  to  or  greater  than  the  breadth  and  the 
upper  shoulders  narrowed  (Fig.  115);  ovate,  broader  than  the  conical 
(Fig.  116);  obovate,  inversely  ovate  (larger  at  the  apex);  oblong, 
length  equal  to  or  greater  than  the  breadth,  and  sides  parallel  or  very 
nearly  so;  oblate,  distinctly  flattened  endwise  (Fig.  117);  lop-sided 
(Fig.  118).  Combinations  of  these  terms  with  themselves  (Fig.  119), 


Tig.  118.    Lop-sided. 


Fig.  120.    Various  types. 


Appendix.  487 

and  with  such  common  adjectives  as  spherical,  round,  short,  flat, 
enable  one  to  designate  the  form  of  the  more  irregular  fruits. 

The  ends  or  extremities  of  fruits  are  described  by  technical  terms. 
In  pome-like  fruits,  the  depression  in  the  apex  (or  blossom  end)  is 
known  as  the  basin  (d,  e,  Fig.  120).  The  depression  at  the  base  (or 
stem  end)  is  tha  cavity  (a,  b,  c,  Fig.  120).  The  basin  is  broad  and 
deep  in  e,  and  small  and  shallow  in  d;  and  it  is  corrugated  or  fur- 
rowed in  Fig.  117.  The  cavity  is  narroiv  and  deep  in  a,  broad  and 
deep  in  c,  and  narrow  and  shallow  in  b.  In  the  basin  sits  the  calyx 
or  eye.  This  calyx  is  open  in  e,  and  closed  in  d.  The  stalk  or  stem 
is  short  in  a,  very  short  in  b,  and  long  and  slender  in  c.  In  stone- 
fruits,  the  depressions  at  apex  and  base  are  less  marked,  and  the 
term  basin  is  not  used;  but  cavity  is  used  for  the  depression  about 
the  stem.  The  longitudinal  furrow  or  depression  on  the  side  of  a 
stone-fruit  (as  of  a  peach  or  plum)  is  known  as  a  suture. 

In  describing  the  color  of  a  fruit,  it  is  customary  to  assume  an 
under-color  or  ground-color,  which  is  laid  on  nearly  or  quite  uni- 
formly over  the  entire  surface,  and  over  which  the  markings  are  dis 
played.  This  ground-color  is  therefore  the  prevailing  tone  of  yellow 
or  green,  or  other  subdued  color,  which  shows  between  the  spots  and 
streaks,  underneath  the  solid  red  or  purple,  and  on  the  uncolored 
side  of  the  fruit.  A  fruit  is  striped  when  it  is  marked  by  broad  and 
more  or  less  definite  longitudinal  bands;  streaked  when  the  markings 
are  very  narrow,  as  in  Fig.  115;  splashed  when  the  stripes  are  broken 
and  irregular;  mottled  when  marked  by  large  confluent  dots. 

The  quality  of  a  fruit  is  determined  by  its  texture  and  its  flavor. 
The  texture  is  said  to  be  hard,  coarse,  gritty,  rough,  fine-grained, 
buttery,  melting.  The  flavor  is  described  as  poor,  good,  very  good 
(largely  matters  of  individual  taste),  sweet,  acid  or  sour,  subacid  or 
nourish  (that  is,  only  slightly  sour),  dry,  juicy,  vinous  (with  a  lively 
wine-like  suggestion),  aromatic,  and  the  like. 

The  names  of  varieties  should  be  short  and  modest;  and  a  name 
which  has  once  been  used  should  not  be  used  again  in  the  same  class 
of  fruit,  even  though  the  variety  to  which  it  was  first  applied  should 
have  become  extinct.  All  titles,  as  General,  Professor,  President,  and 
all  extravagant  adjectives,  as  superb,  magnificent,  grand,  should  be 
omitted  from  the  name  of  the  variety.  The  standard  practice  in  this 
country  is  that  specified  in  the  rules  adopted  by  the  American  Pomo- 
logical  Society.  Helpful  suggestions  may  also  be  found  in  the  rules 
adopted  by  a  committee  of  horticulturists  for  the  naming  of  vege- 
tables, and  published  in  "Annals  of  Horticulture  for  1889." 


488  Appendix. 


III.     AMERICAN  BOOKS    ON  FRUIT-GROWING. 

The  subjoined  bibliography  comprises  all  the  American  books  in 
the  author's  library  which  are  devoted  to  the  general  discussion  of 
fruit-growing.  It  omits  all  works  upon  particular  pomological  topics, 
as  small-fruits,  grapes,  oranges,  and  the  like.  Inventories  of  these 
special  books  belong  properly  in  the  works  which  shall  be  devoted 
to  the  various  classes  of  fruits. 

BAILEY,  L.  H. 

GARDEN-MAKING.  Suggestions  for  the  utilizing  of  home  grounds. 
Aided  by  L.  R.  Taft,  F.  A.  Waugh,  Ernest  Walker.  New  York 
and  London.  1898.  [c.  1898.*]  The  Macmillan  Company,  pp.  vii 
+  417.  7x5t.  [The  Garden-Craft  Series.] 

-Same.     Reprinted  1898.     pp.  vii +  417. 

—  Same,  3rd   ed.,  revised,     pp.  vii -f- 417. 

BAILEY,  L.  H. 

THE   NURSERY-BOOK  ;    a  complete  guide  to  the  multiplication  and 

pollination  of    plants.  Illustrated.     New  York.     1891.     [c.  1891.] 

The  Rural    Publishing  Company,     pp.  304.     7Kx5K. 
-Same,  3rd  ed.      New  York  and   London.      1896.      [c.  1896.]      The 

Macmillan   Company,  pp.  xi-f-365.      7x4%.     [The  Garden-Craft 

Series.] 

-Same,  4th  ed.     1900.  pp.  xi  +  365. 

BAILEY,  L.  H. 

THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  FRUIT-GROWING.     Illustrated.     New  York  and 
London.     1897.    [c.  1897.]    The  Macmillan  Company,     pp.  xi-f  508. 
7x4%.     [The  Rural  Science  Series.] 
-Same,  2nd  edition.     1898.    pp.  xvii  +  514. 

BAILEY,  L.  H. 

THE  PRUNING-BOOK.  A  monograph  of  the  pruning  and  training  of 
plants  as  applied  to  American  conditions.  Illustrated.  New  York 
and  London.  1898.  [c.  1898.]  The  Macmillan  Company,  pp.  ix 
+  537.  7x5.  [The  Garden-Craft  Series.] 

-Same,  2nd  ed.     1899.    pp.  ix  +  545. 

*Date  of  copyright. 

t  Length  and  width  of  volume,  in  inches. 


Appendix.  489 

BAKER,  CHARLES  R. 

PRACTICAL  AND  SCIENTIFIC  FRUIT-CULTURE.  Illustrated.  Boston- 
1866.  [c.  1866.]  Lee  &  Shepard.  pp.  523.  8^x5%. 

BARRY,  P. 

THE  FRUIT  GARDEN;  a  treatise  intended  to  explain  and  illustrate 
the  physiology  of  fruit  trees,  the  theory  and  practice  of  all 
operations  connected  with  the  propagation,  transplanting,  prun- 
ing and  training  of  orchard  and  garden  trees,  as  standards, 
dwarfs,  pyramids,  espaliers,  etc.,  the  laying  out  and  arranging 
different  kinds  of  orchards  and  gardens,  the  selection  of  suit- 
able varieties  for  different  purposes  and  localities,  gathering  and 
preserving  fruits,  treatment  of  diseases,  destruction  of  insects, 
descriptions  and  uses  of  implements,  etc.  Illustrated  with  up- 
wards of  150  figures,  representing  different  parts  of  trees,  all 
practical  operations,  forms  of  trees,  designs  for  plantations,  im- 
plements, etc.  New  Yo.rk.  I860.  [c.  1851.]  C.  M.  Saxton, 
Barker  &  Co.  pp.  xiv-f-398.  7Kx5. 

-Same.  New  edition.  Revised  and  brought  down  to  date,  by  the 
author.  Illustrated.  New  York.  1888.  [c.  1883.]  Orange  Judd 
Company,  pp.  xvi-(-516.  7%x5. 

BEADLE,  D.  W. 

CANADIAN  FRUIT,  FLOWER,  AND  KITCHEN  GARDENER  ;  a  guide  in 
all  matters  relating  to  the  cultivation  of  fruits,  flowers  and 
vegetables,  and  their  value  for  cultivation  in  this  climate.  Il- 
lustrated. Colored  plates.  Toronto.  1872.  [c.  1872.]  James 
Campbell  &  Son.  pp.  xvi  +  391.  9x6. 

BEECHER,  HENRY  WARD. 

PLAIN  AND  PLEASANT  TALK  ABOUT  FRUITS,  FLOWERS  AND  FARMING. 
New  York.  1859.  [c.  1859].  Derby  &  Jackson.  A.  O.  Moore  & 
Co.  pp.  viii +  420.  7K  +  5. 

—  Same,  new  edition,  with  additional  matter  from  recent  writings, 
published  and  unpublished.  New  York.  1874.  [c.  1873.]  J.  B. 
Ford  &  Co.  pp.  vii  +  498.  7%x5. 

BR£HAUT,  REV.  T.  COLLINGS. 

CORDON  TRAINING  OP  FRUIT  TREES  ;  diagonal,  vertical,  spiral,  hori- 
zontal, adapted  to  the  orchard-house  and  open-air  culture.  With 
a  supplement  containing  remarks  on  cordon  training,  the  culti- 
vation and  pruning  of  peach  trees  in  pots,  the  best  varieties  of 


490  Appendix. 

fruits  for  pot-culture ;  and  general  remarks  on  orchard-houses 
adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  United  States.  By  C.  M.  Hovey. 
Illustrated.  Boston.  1864.  [  n.  c.]  Hovey  &  Co.  pp.  112. 
9x5%.  [The  supplement,  pp.  79-112,  is  by  Hovey.] 

BRIDGEMAN,  THOMAS. 

THE  FRUIT-CULTIVATOR'S  MANUAL  ;  containing  ample  directions  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  most  important  fruits,  including  the  cran- 
berry, the  fig,  and  grape,  with  descriptive  lists  of  the  most 
admired  varieties.  And  a  calendar,  showing  the  work  necessary 
to  be  done  in  the  orchard  and  fruit-garden  every  month  of  the 
year.  The  whole  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  United  States. 
Portrait.  New  York.  1845.  [c.  1844.]  A.  Hanford.  pp.  vi-j- 
175.  7%x4K. 
-Same.  New  York.  1847.  [c.  1847.]  pp.  vi -f  189.,  7^x4%. 

BRINCKLE,  WILLIAM  D.,  Editor.  * 

HOFFY'S  NORTH  AMERICAN  POMOLOGIST;  containing  numerous  finelv 
colored  drawings,  accompanied  by  letter  press  descriptions,  etc., 
of  fruits  of  American  origin.  Portrait.  Book  No.  I.  Philadel- 
phia. 1860.  [c.  I860.]  Prepared  and  published  by  A.  Hoffy. 
pp.  vi-f44.  10%  x  8. 

COLE,   S.  W. 

THE  AMERICAN  FRUIT-BOOK;  containing  directions  for  raising, 
propagating,  and  managing  fruit-trees,  shrubs,  and  plants;  with 
a  description  of  the  best  varieties  of  fruit,  including  new  and 
valuable  kinds;  embellished  and  illustrated  with  numerous  en- 
gravings of  fruits,  trees,  insects,  grafting,  budding,  training,  etc., 
etc.  Eighteenth  thousand.  Boston.  1850.  [n.  c.]  John  P.  Jewett 
&  Co.;  New  York.  C.  M.  Saxton.  pp.  288.  6x4. 

COLLINGWOOD,    H.    W. 

FERTILIZERS  AND  FRUIT.  A  trip  among  growers  in  the  famous 
Hudson  River  fruit  district.  Best  quality  in  fruit.  New  York. 
1893.  [c.  1893.]  The  Rural  Publishing  Co.  pp.27.  7Kx5.  [The 
Rural  Library,  Vol.  I.,  No.  25,  Dec.] 

COXE,   WILLIAM. 

A  VIEW  OF  THE  CULTIVATION  OF  FRUIT  TREES,  AND  THE  MAN- 
AGEMENT OF  ORCHARDS  AND  CIDER;  with  accurate  descriptions 
of  the  most  estimable  varieties  of  native  and  foreign  apples. 


Appendix.  491 

pears,  peaches,  plums,  and  cherries,  cultivated  in  the  Middle 
States  of  America;  illustrated  by  cuts  of  two  hundred  kinds 
of  fruits  of  the  natural  size;  intended  to  explain  some  of  the 
errors  which  exist  relative  to  the  origin,  popular  names,  and 
character  of  many  of  our  fruits;  to  identify  them  by  accurate 
descriptions  of  their  properties,  and  correct  delineations  of  the 
full  size  and  natural  formation  of  each  variety;  and  to  ex- 
hibit a  system  of  practice  adapted  to  our  climate,  in  the  suc- 
cessive stages  of  a  nursery,  orchard,  and  cider  establish- 
ment. Philadelphia.  1817.  [c.  1817.]  Published  by  M.  Carey 
&  Son.  D.  Allinson,  printer,  pp.  iv  +  268.  8%x5}^. 

CREIGHTON,   W.   O. 

FRUIT-GROWING  FOB  PROFIT;  comprising  a  complete  history  of 
apple  culture,  from  the  time  the  seeds  are  planted  until  the 
proceeds  are  pocketed.  With  chapters  on  the  plum,  pear,  cherry, 
strawberry,  raspberry,  blackberry,  currant  and  gooseberry.  Hali- 
fax, N.  S.  1891.  [n.  c.]  Nova  Scotia  Printing  Co.  pp.  52. 
8%x5%. 

DOWNING,  A.   J. 

THE  FRUITS  AND  FRUIT  TREES  OF  AMERICA;    or  the  culture,  propa- 
gation,   and   management,    in   the   garden    and   orchard,    of    fruit 
trees   generally;    with   descriptions   of  all  the  finest   varieties  of 
fruit,  native    and   foreign,  cultivated   in  this  country.     Illustrated 
with  many  engravings.     New  York  and  London.     1845.     [c.  1845.] 
Wiley  &  Putnam,     pp.  xiv-f  594.     8x5. 
-Same  (Gth   ed.),  1846.     [c.  1845.]     pp.  xiv-f  594.      8x5. 
-Same  (7th  ed.),  1847.     [c.  1845. J     pp.  xiv-}-594.     8x5. 

—  Same    [with  wide   margin   and  colored   plates].     1847.     [c.  1845.] 
pp.  xiv-f  594.     10x6M. 

-Same  (9th  ed.)  1849.  [c.  1845.]  John  Wiley,  pp.  xiv-f  594. 
8x5. 

—  Same,  revised  and  corrected  by  Charles  Downing.    1860.     [c.  1857]. 
John  Wiley,    pp.  xiii+760.    8x5. 

-Same,  1864.     [c.  1857.]     pp.  xix-f  760.     8x5. 

—  Same,    second   revision  and    correction,    with   large   additions,  in- 
cluding   the   appendices  of    1872    to  1881,    and    containing    many 
new  varieties,  by  Charles  Downing,  with  nearly  400  outline   illus- 
trations of  fruit.      1890.      [c.    1872.]    John  Wiley   &   Sons.    pp. 
xxiv-f  1,098 -fix -f  189.     9Kx6. 

-Same,  appendices  I.,  II.,  III.  1881.  [c.  1881.]  pp.  xii-f  189. 
9x5%. 


492  Appendix. 

DOWNING,  CHARLES. 

SELECTED  FRUITS;  from  Downing's  Fruits  and  Fruit-Trees  of  Amer- 
ica. With  some  new  varieties;  including  their  culture,  propaga- 
tion, and  management  in  the  garden  and  orchard.  Illustrated  with 
upwards  of  four  hundred  outlines  of  apples,  cherries,  grapes, 
plums,  pears,  etc.  New  York.  1871.  [c.  1871.]  John  Wiley  & 
Son.  pp.  x+679.  8x5%. 

-Same,  fifth  edition.     1845.     [c.  1845.]     pp.  xiv  +  594.     8x5. 
ELLIOTT,  F.  R. 

FRUIT  BOOK  ;  or,  the  American  fruit-grower's  guide  in  orchard 
and  garden.  Being  a  compend  of  the  history,  modes  of  propa- 
gation, culture,  etc.,  of  fruit  trees  and  shrubs,  with  descriptions 
of  nearly  all  the  varieties  of  fruits  cultivated  in  this  country; 
notes  of  their  adaptation  to  localities  and  soils,  and  also  a  com- 
plete list  of  fruits  worthy  of  cultivation.  Illustrated.  New  York. 
1854.  [c.  1854].  C.  M.  Saxton.  pp.  ix-f-503.  8x5. 

—  Same,  THE  WESTERN  FRUIT-BOOK;  new  edition,  revised,  en- 
larged and  improved.  New  York.  n.  d.  [c.  1859.]  Orange 
Judd  Co.  pp.  xi  +  528.  7^x5. 

ELLIOTT,    F.   R. 

HAND-BOOK  FOR  FRUIT-GROWERS;  containing  a  short  history  of 
fruits  and  their  value,  instructions  as  to  soils  and  locations,  how 
to  grow  from  seeds,  how  to  bud  and  graft,  the  making  of  cut- 
tings, pruning,  best  age  for  transplanting,  etc.,  etc.  With  a  list 
of  varieties  suited  to  climate.  Illustrated.  Made  for  those  who 
grow  fruit  for  their  own  use.  New  edition,  enlarged.  Rochester. 
[c.  1876.]  Rochester  Lithographing  Co.  No  date.  pp.  144. 
7x5%. 
ELLIOTT,  WILLIAM  R. 

PRACTICAL   AND   COMPREHENSIVE   TREATISE  ON  FRUIT  AND  FLORAL 
CULTURE,  and   a  few   hints    on  landscape  gardening.     Illustrated, 
n.    d.       [Philadelphia     advertisements     interspersed.]      pp.    100. 
7x4^. 
EMMONS,  EBENEZER. 

AGRICULTURE  OF  NEW  YORK;  comprising  an  account  of  the  classifi- 
cation, composition  and  distribution  of  the  soils  and  rocks,  and  the 
natural  waters  of  the  different  geological  formations;  together  with 
a  condensed  view  of  the  climate  and  the  agricultural  productions  of 
the  state.  Many  colored  plates.  Vol.  Ill  [comprising  an  account 
of  the  fruits].  Albany.  1851.  pp.  viii-f-340.  11x9.  [In  Natural 
History  of  New  York.] 


Appendix.  493 

FORSYTH,   WILLIAM. 

AN  EPITOME  OF  MK.  FORSYTH  's  TREATISE  ox  THE  CULTURE  AND 
MANAGEMENT  OF  FRUIT  TREES.  Also,  notes  on  American  garden- 
ing and  fruits;  with  designs  for  promoting  the  ripening  of  fruits 
and  securing  them  as  family  comforts;  and  further,  of  economi- 
cal principles  in  building  farmers'  habitations.  By  an  American 
farmer.  Philadelphia.  1803.  [n.  c.]  Printed  by  T.  L.  Plowman 
for  John  Morgan,  pp.  186  +  6. 


FORSYTH,   WILLIAM. 

A  TREATISE  ON  THE  CULTURE  AND  MANAGEMENT  OF  FRUIT  TREES; 
in  which  a  new  method  of  pruning  and  training  is  fully  de- 
scribed. Together  with  observations  on  the  diseases,  defects, 
and  injuries  in  all  kinds  of  fruit  and  forest  trees;  as  also,  an 
account  of  a  particular  method  of  cure,  made  public  by  order 
of  the  British  government.  To  which  are  added  an  introduction 
and  notes,  adapting  the  rules  of  the  treatise  to  the  climate  and 
seasons  of  the  United  States  of  America.  By  William  Cobbett. 
Plate.  New  York.  1802.  [n.  c.]  Ezra  Sargeant  &  Co.  pp. 
viii  +  259.  8Xx5}i. 

-Same.  Albany.  1803.  [n.  c.]  D.  &  S.  Whiting,  pp.  xii-f-280. 
8Mx5}£.  Contains  at  the  close  a  commendatory  letter  from 
Peter  W.  Yates,  of  Albany. 

FULLER,   ANDREW   S. 

THE  PROPAGATION  OF  PLANTS;  giving  the  principles  which  gov- 
ern the  development  and  growth  of  plants,  their  botanical  affini- 
ties and  peculiar  properties;  also,  descriptions  of  the  process 
by  which  varieties  and  species  are  crossed  or  hybridized,  and 
the  many  different  methods  by  which  cultivated  plants  may  be 
propagated  and  multiplied.  Illustrated  with  numerous  engrav- 
ings. New  York.  1887.  [c.  1887.]  Orange  Judd  Co.,  David  W. 
Judd,  president,  pp.  x  +  349.  7^x5. 

GOODRICH,    CHAUNCEY. 

THE   NORTHERN   FRUIT  CULTURIST;  or,  the   farmer's   guide  to  the 
orchard   and    fruit   garden.      Illustrated.      Burlington.      1849.     [c. 
1849.]     Chauncey  Goodrich,     pp.  viii-f-lOS.     7^x4^. 
—  Same,  second  edition,  corrected  and  enlarged.     Burlington.     1850. 
[c.  1849.]     Chauncey  Goodrich,     pp.  viii-(-112.     7%x4%. 

GREEN,  CHARLES  A. 

GREEN'S  FOUR  BOOKS,  devoted  to:  1.  How  we  made  the  old 
farm  pay.  2.  Peach  culture.  3.  How  to  propagate  fruit-plants, 
vines  and  trees.  4.  General  fruit  instructor.  Illustrated. 


494  Appendix. 

Rochester,  N.  Y.    1897.    [c.  1895.]    Green's  Nursery  Co.    pp.  119. 

9x6.     [New  edition  of   1897.] 
GREEN,  CHARLES  A. 

GREEN'S   Six  BOOKS,   devoted  to  apple  culture,  pear  culture,  plum 

and  cherry  culture,  raspberry  and   blackberry  culture,  grape  cul- 

ture,   strawberry,    currant,    gooseberry   and    persimmon    culture. 

Illustrated.     Rochester,  N.  Y.     1896.     [c.  1894.]     Green's  Nursery 

Co.,  N.  Y.    pp.  142.     9x6.     [New  edition  of  1896.] 
GREEN,  CHARLES  A. 

How  TO   PROPAGATE  AND   GROW    FRUIT;    editor  of   Green's   Fruit 

Grower.    Two  colored  plates.     Over  fifty  illustrations.    Rochester, 

N.  Y.     n.  d.     [c.  1885.]     pp.  80.     9%x6. 

GREEN,    SAMUEL  B. 

AMATEUR  FRUIT  GROWING;  a  practical  guide  to  the  growing  of 
fruit  for  home  use  and  the  market.  Written  with  special  ref- 
erence to  colder  climates.  Illustrated.  Minneapolis.  1894. 
[c.  1893.]  Farm,  Stock  and  Home  Publishing  Co.  pp.  132.  IV*  x5. 

GREGG,  THOMAS. 

A  HAND-BOOK  OF  FRUIT-CULTURE  ;  being  a  guide  to  the  cultivation 
and  management  of  fruit  trees;  with  condensed  descriptions  of 
many  of  the  best  and  most  popular  varieties  in  the  United  States. 
Illustrated  with  ninety  engravings.  With  an  appendix  containing 
a  variety  of  useful  memoranda  on  the  subject,  valuable  household 
receipts,  etc.  N.  Y.  n.  d.  [c.  1857.]  Fowler  &  Wells,  pp. 


GURNEY,  C.  W. 

NORTHWESTERN  POMOLOGY;  a  treatise  on  the  growing  and  care 
of  trees,  fruits  and  flowers  in  the  northwestern  states.  Concord, 
Nebraska.  1894.  [c.  1894.]  Pub.  by  Author,  pp.  293.  8x5^. 

HARCOURT,  HELEN. 

FLORIDA    FRUITS,  AND  How    TO    RAISE    THEM.     Revised   and   en- 

larged   edition,    with  elaborate    index    of    subjects.      Louisville, 

Ky.     1866.     [c.  1866.]  John    P.    Morton   &    Co.     pp.  347.     8x5%. 

HOOPER,   E.  J. 

HOOPER'S  WESTERN  FRUIT-BOOK;  a  compendious  collection  of  facts, 
from  the  notes  and  experience  of  successful  fruit  culturists, 
arranged  for  practical  use  in  the  orchard  and  garden.  Colored 
plates.  Cincinnati.  1857.  [c.  1857.]  Moore,  Wilstach,  Keys 
&  Co.  pp.  x  +  333.  8x5. 

-Same,  3rd  edition,  completely  revised.  1858.  [c.  1857.]  pp. 
x  +  355.  8x5. 


Appendix.  495 

HOVEY,  c.  M. 

THE  FRUITS  OF  AMERICA;  containing  richly  colored  figures,  and 
full  descriptions  of  all  the  choicest  varieties  cultivated  in  the 
United  States.  Boston.  Vol.  L,  Hovey  &  Co.  1852.  [c.  1851.] 
pp.  100.  Vol.  II.,  Hovey  &  Co.  1856.  [c.  1851.]  pp.  96.  Il%x8. 
[In  Cornell  Univ.  Library,  Vol.  II.  has  24  pp.  of  Vol.  III.,  but  no 
title.  Vol.  III.  was  never  completed.] 

HOW  TO  GROW  FRUIT,  FLOWERS  AND  VEGETABLES  ;  and  the  lan- 
guage of  flowers.  New  York.  Norman  L.  Munro.  No  date. 
Paper,  pp.68.  6Kx4. 

IVES,  JOHN  M. 

See  Manning,  Robert.     The  New  England   Fruit-Book. 

JAQUES,   GEORGE. 

A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  FRUIT  TREES; 
with  descriptive  lists  of  the  most  valuable  fruits  for  general 
cultivation;  adapted  to  the  interior  of  New  England.  Worcester. 
1849.  [c.  1849.]  Erastus  N.  Tucker,  pp.  256.  6%x4%.  [Bound 
as  Jaques'  N.  E.  Fruit  Trees.] 

JENKINS,  J. 

ART  OF  PROPAGATION;  a  hand-book  for  nurserymen,  florists,  gar- 
deners, and  everybody.  Illustrated.  Winona,  Columbia  Co.,  Ohio. 
1886.  [c.  1876.]  Jenkins'  Grape  and  Seedling  Nursery,  pp.  31. 
9x6. 

KENRICK,   WILLIAM. 

THE  NEW  AMERICAN  ORCHARDIST;  or,  an  account  of  the  most 
valuable  varieties  of  fruit,  adapted  to  cultivation  in  the  climate 
of  the  United  States,  from  the  latitude  of  25°  to  54°,  with  their 
uses,  modes  of  culture,  and  management;  remedies  for  the  mala- 
dies to  which  they  are  subject,  from  noxious  insects,  and  other 
causes,  etc.  Also,  a  brief  description  of  the  most  ornamental 
forest  trees,  shrubs,  flowers,  etc.  Boston.  1833.  [c.  1832.]  Car- 
ter, Kendel  &  Co.,  and  Russell,  Odiorne  &  Co.  pp.  xxxvi  +  428. 
7^x4%. 

KENRICK,  WILLIAM. 

THE  NEW  AMERICAN  ORCHARDIST;  or,  an  account  of  the  most 
valuable  varieties  of  fruit,  of  all  climates,  adapted  to  cultiva- 
tion in  the  United  States,  with  their  history,  modes  of  culture, 
management,  uses,  ete.  And  the  culture  of  silk.  With  an  ap- 
pendix on  vegetables,  ornamental  trees,  shrubs  and  flowers. 
Second  edition,  enlarged  and  improved.  Boston.  1835.  [c.  1835.] 
Russell,  Odiorne  &  Metealf.  pp.  418.  7^x4%. 


496  Appendix. 

KENRICK,  WILLIAM. 

THE  NEW  AMERICAN  ORCHARDIST;  or,  an  account  of  the  most 
valuable  varieties  of  fruit,  of  all  climates,  adapted  to  cultiva- 
tion in  the  Unitted  States;  with  their  history,  modes  of  culture, 
management,  uses,  etc.  With  an  appendix  on  vegetables,  orna- 
mental trees,  shrubs  and  flowers,  the  agricultural  resources  of 
America,  and  on  silk,  etc.  Third  edition,  enlarged  and  im- 
proved. Boston.  1841.  [c.  1841.]  Otis,  Broaders  &  Co.  pp. 
449.  7^x4%. 

-Same,  5th  edition,  enlarged  and  improved.  1842.  [c.  1841.]  pp. 
449.  7^x5. 

—  Same.  Cth   edition,  enlarged   and    improved.     With  a   supplement. 

1843.  fc.  1841.]     pp.450.     7^x5. 

—  Same,  7th   edition,  enlarged    and    improved.     With  a  supplement. 

1844.  [c.  1841.]     pp.450.     73^x5. 

—  Same,  8th   edition,   enlarged  and   improved.     With   a   supplement. 
1848.     [c.  1841.]     pp.450.     7Kx5. 

KITCHEN  AND  FRUIT  GARDENER,  THE;  a  select  manual  of  kitchen 
gardening,  and  culture  of  fruits,  containing  familiar  directions 
for  the  most  approved  practice  in  each  department,  descriptions 
of  many  valuable  fruits,  and  a  calendar  of  work  to  be  performed 
each  month  in  the  year.  The  whole  adapted  to  the  climate  of 
the  United  States.  Philadelphia.  1844.  [c.  1844.]  Lea  &  Blan- 
chard.  pp.  xii-)-118.  7%x4%.  [An  American  edition  of  an 
English  work.  Bound  with  the  Complete  Florist.] 

KNOWLTON,    0.   H. 

FRUIT  CULTURE;  its  possibilities  in  Maine.  A  paper  delivered 
before  the  winter  meeting  of  the  Maine  State  Pomological  So- 
ciety, held  in  Bangor,  Feb.  24  and  25,  1891.  Farmington,  Maine. 
pp.12.  6x3.  [Separately  printed.] 

LACY,  T.  JAY. 

FRUIT  CULTURE  FOR  THE  GULF  STATES,  south  of  latitude  32°. 
Alexandria,  La.  1888.  [c.  1888.]  Press  of  Town  Talk.  pp.  50. 
6^x4%. 

LARSEN,   HEXRY. 

MANUAL  FOR  THE  PRUNING  AND  CULTURE  OF  ALL  KINDS  OP  FRUIT 
TREES;    and   directions   for  the   destruction  of  the  curculio   and 
other  insects.     Philadelphia.     1860.     [c.  1859.]     James    Challen  & 
Son.     pp.  75.     6x4. 
LAWSON,   WILLIAM. 

A  NEW   ORCHARD  AND    GARDEN;    or,  the   best    way    for  planting, 


Appendix.  497 

grafting,  and  to  make  any  ground  good,  for  a  rich  orchard. 
Particularly  in  the  north,  and  generally  for  the  whole  king- 
dom of  England,  as  in  nature,  reason,  situation,  and  all  proba- 
bilitie,  may  and  doth  appeare.  With  the  country  housewife's 
garden  for  herbs  of  common  use,  their  vertues,  seasons,  profits, 
ornaments,  varietie  of  knots,  models  for  trees,  and  plots  for  the 
best  ordering  of  grounds  and  walkes.  As  also  the  husbandry 
of  bees,  with  their  several  uses  and  annoyances,  all  being  the 
experiences  of  48  years'  labour,  and  now  the  third  time  cor- 
rected and  much  enlarged,  by  William  Lawson.  Whereunto  is 
newly  added  the  art  of  propagating  plants,  with  the  true  or- 
dering of  all  manner  of  fruits,  in  their  gathering,  carrying  home, 
and  preservation.  Printed  at  London  by  J.  H.  for  Francis  Wil- 
liams. 1626.  Illustrated.  Philadelphia.  1858.  [n.  c.]  Robert 
Pearsall  Smith,  pp.  39.  9Kx6.  [Reprint.] 

LINDLEY,  GEORGE. 

A  GUIDE  TO  THE  ORCHARD  AND  FRUIT  GARDEN;  or,  an  account 
of  the  most  valuable  fruits  cultivated  in  Great  Britian.  With 
additions  of  all  the  most  valuable  fruits  cultivated  in  America, 
with  directions  for  their  cultivation,  budding,  grafting  and  prop- 
agation, pruning  and  training  of  standard,  open  dwarf  and 
espalier  fruit  trees,  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  United  States 
of  America.  A  new  edition,  with  an  appendix,  describing  many 
American  fruits  not  mentioned  in  the  former  edition.  Illustrated. 
New  York.  1846.  [c.  1846.]  J.  C.  Riker.  pp.xi+420.  7^x4%. 

LODEMAN,  E.  G. 

THE  SPRAYING  OF  PLANTS;  a  succinct  account  of  the  application 
of  liquids  and  powders  to  plants  for  the  purpose  of  destroving 
insects  and  fungi.  With  a  preface  by  B.  T.  Galloway.  Portrait 
of  A.  Millardet.  Illustrated.  New  York  and  London.  1896.  [c. 
1896.]  Macniillan  &  Co.  pp.  xvii-f  399.  7x5.  [The  Rural  Science 
Series,  edited  by  L.  H.  Bailey.] 

MANNING,   ROBERT. 

BOOK  OP  FRUITS;  being  a  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  most  val- 
uable varieties  of  the  pear,  apple,  peach,  plum  and  cherry,  for 
New  England  culture.  To  which  is  added  the  gooseberry,  cur- 
rant, raspberry,  strawberry,  and  the  grape;  with  modes  of  cul- 
ture. Also,  hardy  ornamental  trees  and  shrubs.  With  plates. 
First  series  for  1838.  Salem.  1838.  [c.  1838.]  Published  by 
Ives  &  Jewett.  pp.  120.  7^x4%. 


498  Appendix. 

MANNING,  ROBERT. 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  FRUIT  BOOK;  being  a  descriptive  catalogue 
of  the  most  valuable  varieties  of  the  pear,  apple,  peach,  plum 
and  cherry,  for  New  England  culture.  To  which  is  added  other 
varieties;  also  the  grape,  quince,  gooseberry,  currant,  and  straw- 
berry; with  outlines  of  many  of  the  finest  pears,  drawn  from 
nature;  with  directions  for  pruning,  grafting,  budding,  and  gen- 
eral modes  of  culture.  Second  edition,  enlarged  by  John  M. 
Ives.  Salem  and  Boston.  1844.  [c.  1844.]  Pub.  by  W.  & 
S.  B.  Ives,  Salem.  B.  B.  Mussey,  Boston,  pp.  133.  7^x4%. 

MAYNARD,  S.  T. 

THE  PRACTICAL  FRUIT-GROWER.  Profusely  illustrated.  Spring- 
field, Mass.  1898.  [c.  1885.]  The  Phelps  Publishing  Company. 

pp.  128.     7Kx5. 

MCNEIL,  j.  w. 

FRUITS  AND  VEGETABLES.  Hazlehurst,  Miss.  1888.  [n.  c.]  Copiah 
Signal  print,  pp.  21.  9x5%. 

NEILL,    PATRICK. 

THE  FRUIT,  FLOWER,  AND  KITCHEN  GARDEN.  Adapted  to  the 
United  States,  from  the  fourth  edition,  revised  and  improved 
by  the  author.  Illustrated.  Philadelphia.  1851.  [c.  1851.]  Henry 
Carey  Baird.  pp.  ix-f  427.  7%x4%. 

NEILL,    PATRICK. 

THE  PRACTICAL  FRUIT,  FLOWER  AND  VEGETABLE  GARDENER'S  COM- 
PANION, with  a  calendar;  adapted  to  the  United  States  from 
the  fourth  edition,  revised  and  improved  by  the  author.  Edited 
by  G.  Emerson.  With  notes  and  additions  by  R.  G.  Pardee. 
With  elegant  illustrations.  New  York.  1858.  [c.  1855.]  A.  O. 
Moore,  pp.  xiv+408.  7^x5^. 

NUTTING,   W.   R. 

CALIFORNIA    VIEWS    IN    NATURAL    COLORS.     The  California  Illus- 
trated   Series.     Vol.    I.,    No.    2.      San    Francisco.      April,    1889. 
[c.  1889.]     California   View   Publishing  Co.    pp.  30.    7x10^. 
PARKER,   S.  C.,  Editor. 

PROFITS  AND  COSTS    OF    FRUIT-GROWING   IN   NOVA  SCOTIA.     1893. 

pp.  16.    8^x6. 
PEEK,   S.  W. 

THE  NURSERY  AND  ORCHARD;  a  practical  treatise  on  fruit  cul- 
ture. Illustrated.  Atlanta,  Ga.  1885.  [c.  1885.]  Jas.  P.  Harri- 
son &  Co.  pp.  208.  7%  s  5. 


Appendix.  499 

PHILLIPS,  NORMAN. 

HISTORY  OF  FRUIT-GROWING  IN  SOUTH  HAVEN,  MICH.  President 
Phillips'  second  annual  address.  [Bead  before  the  South  Haven 
Pomological  Society,  Dec.  30,  1872.] 

POOLE,  MRS.  HESTER  M. 

FRUITS,  AND  How  TO  USE  THEM  ;  a  practical  manual  for  house- 
keepers; containing  nearly  seven  hundred  recipes  for  whole- 
some preparations  of  foreign  and  domestic  fruits.  New  York. 
1890.  [c.  1889.  ]  Fowler  &  Wells,  pp.242.  7%x5. 

POWELL,  E.  C.,  Editor. 

FRUIT  PACKAGES;  the  current  styles  of  baskets,  boxes,  crates  and 
barrels  used  in  marketing  fruits  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
Fully  illustrated.  New  York.  1893.  [c.  1893.]  The  Rural  Pub- 
lishing Co.  pp.  62.  7%x5.  [The  Rural  Library,  Vol.  I.,  No. 
19.  June.] 

PRINCE,  WILLIAM   ROBERT. 

THE  POMOLOGICAL  MANUAL;  or,  a  treatise  on  fruits;  containing 
descriptions  of  a  great  number  of  the  most  valuable  varieties 
for  the  orchard  and  garden.  Aided  by  William  Prince.  Parts 
I.  and  II.  New  York.  1831.  [c.  1831.]  T.  &  J.  Swords,  G.  & 
C.  &  H.  Carvill,  E.  Bliss,  Collins  &  Co.,  G.  Thorburn  &  Sons, 
New  York;  Judah  Dobson,  Philadelphia;  J.  B.  Russell,  Boston; 
Gideon  B.  Smith,  Baltimore;  James  Winston,  Richmond;  and 
Joseph  Simmons,  Charleston,  S.  C.  pp.  vi-j-200,  vi+216.  9x5%. 
[Parts  separately  bound.] 

-Same,  parts  I.  and  II.,  2nd  edition.  1832.  [c.  1831.]  pp. 
vi-|-200,  xvi -f-216.  9x5%.  [Bound  together.] 

RIVERS,  THOMAS. 

THE  MINIATURE  FRUIT  GARDEN  ;  or,  the  culture  of  pyramidal  and 
bush  fruit  trees.  From  the  13th  English  edition.  Illustrated. 
New  York.  n.  d.  Orange  Judd  Company,  pp.  x-|-133.  7%x5. 
[Publisher's  preface  dated  1866.] 

—  Same.  With  instructions  for  root-pruning,  etc.  15th  edition. 
Boston.  1870.  J.  E.  Tilton  &  Co.  pp.  x+156.  6%x4%.  [Printed 
from  the  English  plates.] 

SAYERS,  E. 

THE  AMERICAN  FRUIT  GARDEN  COMPANION;  being  a  practical  trea- 
tise on  the  propagation  and  culture  of  fruit,  adapted  to  the 
Northern  and  Middle  States.  Boston.  1839.  [c.  1838.]  Weeks, 
Jordan  &  Co.  pp.  xv  +  174.  7x4%. 


500  Appendix. 


STRONG,  w.  c. 

FRUIT  CULTURE;  and  the  laying  out  and  management  of  a  country 
home.  Illustrated.  Boston.  1885.  [c.  1885.]  Houghton,  Mifflin 
&  Co.  pp.  v  +  202.  7x4%. 

-Same,  New  York.  1892.  [c.  1885.]  The  Rural  Publishing  Co. 
pp.  xiv -f231.  7%x5. 

THACHER,  JAMES. 

THE  AMERICAN  ORCHARDIST;  or,  a  practical  treatise  on  the  culture 
and  management  of  apple  and  other  fruit  trees,  with  observa- 
tions on  the  diseases  to  which  they  are  liable,  and  their  reme- 
dies. To  which  is  added  the  most  approved  method  of  manu- 
facturing and  preserving  cider,  compiled  from  the  latest  and 
most  approved  authorities,  and  adapted  to  the  use  of  American 
farmers.  Boston.  1822.  [c.  1822.]  Printed  and  published  by 
Joseph  W.  Ingraham.  pp.  vi-f-226.  9x5%. 

—  Same,  bound  with  AMERICAN  ORCHARDIST  and  COTTAGE  ECONOMY. 
By  William  Cobbett. 

THACHER,  JAMES. 

THE  AMERICAN  ORCHARDIST;  or,  a  practical  treatise  on  the  cul- 
ture and  management  of  apple  and  other  fruit  trees,  with  ob- 
servations on  the  diseases  to  which  they  are  liable,  and  their 
remedies.  To  which  is  added  the  most  approved  method  of 
manufacturing  and  preserving  cider,  and  also  wine  from  apple 
juice  and  currants.  Adapted  to  the  use  of  American  farmers, 
and  all  lovers  and  cultivators  of  fine  fruit.  Second  edition, 
much  improved.  Plymouth,  Mass.  1825.  [c.  1825.]  Published 
by  Ezra  Collier,  pp.  iv  +  234.  7x4M. 

THOMAS,  JOHN  J. 

THE    AMERICAN   FRUIT    CULTURIST;    containing    directions  for  the 

propagation   and   culture   of   fruit  trees   in   the  nursery,    orchard 

and    garden.     With   descriptions   of    the   principal   American   an*? 

foreign  varieties   cultivated    in    the    United    States.      Illustrated 

with   three   hundred   accurate   figures.     Fourth    edition.     Auburn. 

1850.     [c.  1849.]     Derby,  Miller  &  Co.     pp.  xiv  +  420.     7%x5. 
-Same,  1851.     [c.  1849.]     pp.  xiv  +  410.     7%x5. 
-Same,    Auburn    and    Buffalo.     1854.     [c.    1849.]     Miller,    Orton   & 

Mulligan,     pp.  xiv  +  421.     7%x5. 
-Same,  New  York.     1858.     [c.  1849.]     C.  M.  Saxton.     pp.  xiv-f  424. 

7%  x  5.     Same  also  by  Miller,  Orton  &  Mulligan. 

—  Same.     Illustrated  with  four  hundred  and  eighty  accurate  figures. 
New  York.     1867.     [c.  1867.]     William  Wood  &  Co.     pp.  vi-f  511. 


Appendix.  501 

THOMAS,  JOHN  J. 

THE  AMERICAN  FRUIT  CULTURIST  ;  containing  practical  directions 
for  the  propagation  and  culture  of  all  fruits  adapted  to  the 
United  States.  A  thoroughly  revised  edition  [8th],  illustrated 
with  five  hundred  and  eight  accurate  figures.  Colored  frontis- 
piece. New  York.  1875..  [c.  1885.]  William  Wood  &  Co.  pp. 
vi  +  576.  9x6^. 

—  Same.    A  thoroughly  revised  edition,   illustrated  with   five   hun- 
dred and  nineteen  accurate  figures.     New  York.     1885.     [c.  1875- 
1885].    William  Wood  &  Co.     pp.  vi-j-593.     7^x5. 

-Same,  20th  edition,  revised  and  enlarged  by  William  H.  S.  Wood. 
Illustrated  with  nearly  eight  hundred  accurate  figures.  1897. 
[c.  1875,  1885,  1897.]  pp.  xv  -f  758.  8%  x  5%. 

THOMAS,  JOHN  J. 

THE  FRUIT  CULTURIST  ;  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  northern 
states;  containing  directions  for  raising  young  trees  in  the 
nursery,  and  for  the  management  of  the  orchard  and  fruit 
garden.  Fourth  edition.  Illustrated.  New  York.  1847.  [c. 
1846.]  Mark  H.  Newman  &  Co.  pp.  vi+216.  6^x4%. 

WICKSOX,    EDWARD   J. 

CALIFORNIA  ILLUSTRATED,  No.  I.  The  Vacaville  early  fruit  district 
of  California.  Second  edition.  Colored  plates.  San  Francisco. 
1888.  [c.  1888.]  California  View  Publishing  Co.  pp.  viii -f- 149 -}- 
viii.  10%  x7. 

WICKSON,   EDWARD   J. 

THE  CALIFORNIA  FRUITS,  AND  How  TO  GROW  THEM.  A  manual  of 
methods  which  have  yielded  greatest  success;  with  lists  of  va- 
rieties best  adapted  to  the  different  districts  of  the  state.  First 
edition.  Illustrated.  San  Francisco.  1889.  [c.  1889.]  Dewey  & 
Co.  pp.  vi-f-575.  9x6. 

—  Same.      Second  edition,   revised    and   enlarged.      1891.      [c.  1889.] 
pp.  viii  -f  599.     9x6. 

-Same.  3rd  ed.,  largely  rewritten.  1900.  [c.  1899.]  Pacific 
Rural  Press,  pp.  viii -f  477.  9x6. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Acers,  growth  of 165 

Aehras 4 

uEsculus,  growths  of 166 

Agents  236 

Age  of  trees  for  planting 233 

Air-currents 47 

—  currents  and  frost 119 

-heating 120 

Alabama,  frost 125 

Alcohol  as  preservative 458 

Alligator  pear 5 

Almond,  kinds  of 5 

—  for  wind-breaks 89 

—  mulching 93 

Alnus*.  growths  of 166 

Alternate  plan 267 

Altitude  and  frosts 55 

—  and  zones 9 

Alwood,  W.  B.,  on  storing 452 

Amelanchier 6 

—  growth  of 166 

American  Net  &  Twine  Co 296 

Ammoniacal  copper  carb 369 

Ammonia  test  for  Paris  green 374 

Amorpha,  growth  of 166 

Ampelopsis,  growth  of 166 

Anacardiaceous  fruits 4 

Anacardium 5 

Analyses  of  cover  crops 201 

Ananas 7 

Andrews,  W.  S.,  quoted 114 

Aniline  dyes 416 

Anonaceous  fruits 4 

Anona,  species  of 4 

—  zone 8 

Anthracnose  ....  347 


PAGB 
Apple  and  the  scab 347,351 

—  culture,  status  of 136 

—  growing,  status  of 30 

—  root,  broken 280 

—  roots ....161 


-  soils  for 19 

—  storage-house 449 


Apples,  age  for  planting 233 

—  and  cedar-apples 78 

-  distance  for 240,  273 

—  exporting 409 

-  fertilizers  in 203,  205 

-  grading 402,  403 

—  hand-picking 401 

-  how  to  pick 385 

—  injured  by  cold 325 

-in  sod 172 

-  keeping 380,  397 

—  packing 407 

—  preserving 459 

-ringing 291 

-  species  of 2 

—  sterile  and  fertile' 229 

-storing 437 

—  temperature  for  keeping 444,  450 

-  thinning 300,  306 

-when  to  pick 280 

-  with  peaches 241,  242 

—  wrapping 413 

-  trees,  and  latitude 243,  265 

--grafting 298 

mulching 93 

trimming  young 251-253 

Apricot-culture,  status  of 137 

-  flower  injured 317-32* 


(503) 


504 


Index. 


PAGE 

Apricots,  distance  for 240 

—  for  wind-breaks 89 

—  how  to  pick 384 

—  species  of 3 

Aralia,  growth  of 166 

Arbor  vitae  for  wind-breaks 89 

Arbutus 5 

Arizona 9 

Arsenic,  arsenites 370-377 

Artocarpus ( 3 

Ashes,  mounds  of  295 

Asimina 4 

Aspect CO 

Associations,  shipping 471 

Atmospheric  drainage 48-59 

Auction  sales 404 

Audibert  system 117 

Authors  on  wind-breaks 71 

Bacterial  diseases 349 

Bagging  fruit 353 

Banana  7 

—  zone 8 

Barbadoes  gooseberry 7 

Bark-bound  trees 285 

Barley  for  cover 192,  202 

Barnett,  quoted 474 

Barnyard  manure 211 

Barrel  presses 433 

Barrenness  of  orchards 342 

Barry,  quoted 72 

-  W.  C.,  quoted 33 

Barton,  H.  L.,  quoted 154 

Baskets 417 

Basswoods  for  wind-breaks 89 

Batting  berries 395 

Beach,  S.  A.,  quoted. .  .228,  230,  301,  334 

Beans  in  orchard  187,  192,  202 

Beckwith  on  preserving  fruits 460 

Bellet,  Du,  on  preserving 458 

Ben  Davis  apple,  region  for 226 

Benedict,  mentioned 396 

Berberis,  growth  of 166 

Berries,  keeping 444 

—  packing 406 

-iarry  stands  386 


Betulas,  growth  of 

Birds,  protecting  from 

—  migrations  of 

Blackberries,  age  for  setting 

—  and  rust 

—  distance  for 

—  laying  down 

—  mulching 


—  on  low  lands 

—  species  of  ... 

—  thinning  . . . 


—  tilling  

—  when  to  pick 

Blackberry  flowers,  killed  . . 

Black-knot 

Blodgett,  quoted 

Blossoms,  effect  of  rain  on. . 

Body-blight 

Bone 

Boneblack  . . . 


PAGF 

...166 
...296 

...127 
...233 
...78 
...241 
...98 
...93 
...59 
...  6 
...305 
...281 

...323 
...22 
...80 
...333 
...287 
7,  218 
...217 


Books  for  record 307 

Bordeaux  mixture,  formula 371 

for  wounds 287,  314 

Borers  in  grass  lands 172 

—  keeping  out 295 

Boussingault,  quoted 115 

Box-scraper 287 

Bramble-fruits C 

Bread-fruit 3 

Bread-stuffs,  raising  of 26 

Bridgeman,  quoted 72 

Buckwheat  for  cover 191,  202 

Budding  young  stocks 235 

Budd,  quoted 51 

Bud-moth 369 

Buds,  winter-killing  of 316,  321 

Buffalo  berries,  mulching 93 

-berry 6 

Bug,  what  is  a 25 

Buildings  for  storage 426,  436,  444 

Burrill,  quoted 281 

Bush-fruits,  defined 6 

Butternut 4 

Buying  trees 235 

California,  frost 112 


Index. 


505 


PAGE 

California  fruits,  packing 410 

—  shipping  from 468 

—  spraying  for  frost 106,  110 

-  wind-breaks  in 76,  77,  89 

Canada,  frosts 43 

Cane-fruits 6 

Canker-worm 78,  369 

Canned  goods 32 

Caraunda   6 

Carbolic  soap 285 

Carbonate  copper 369 

Card,  F.  W ..305 

—  on  rain 339 

Carica 5 

Carissa 6 

Carob 4 

Carolinas,  frost 125 

Carpinus,  growth  of 166 

Cars,  refrigerator 466 

Caryas,  growth  of 167 

Cashew 5 

Casimiroa 3 

Castaneas,  growth  of 167 

—  species  of 5 

Catalpa,  growth  of 167 

Catch  crops 164,  184 

Cedar-apples 78 

Celery,  keeping 444,  445 

Cellars 436,  438 

Celtis,  growth  of 167 

Ceratonia 4 

Cercis,  growth  of 167 

Ceriman 7 

Chart  of  frost 126 

Chautauqua 41,  42,  52 

—  freeze 327 

Chemical  fertilizers 212 

Cherimoya 4 

Cherries  and  birds 296 

—  distance  for 240,  273 

—  how  to  pick 384 

-keeping 397,444 

—  shaking  off 395 

—  species  of 3 

—  when  to  pick 382 


PAGE 

Cherry-culture,  status  of 137 

Cherry-knot 22 

Cherry,  Surinam 4 

-  trees  in  Virginia 243 

Chestnuts  for  wind-breaks 89 

—  species  of 5 

Chicago,  market  of 474 

Chill  room 436 

Chinquapin  5 

Chrysophyllum 4 

Cions,  selection  of 234 

Citron 3 

Citrous  fruits 3 

—  groves,  frosts 107 

—  zone 8 

Citrus,  species  of 3 

Cladrastis,  growth  of 167 

Clinton,  L.  A.,  quoted 145 

Clod-crushers 157 

Clouds  and  frost....  ....Ill 


Clover,  analysis  of. 202 

-  Crimson 164,  190, 199,  202,  218 

-  for  orchards 189,  202 

Coccoloba 5 

Cocoa-nut 5 

—  zone 8 

Cocos   ..  ..5 


Codlin-moth 369,  370 

-  distribution  of 20,  24 

Cold,  injuries  by 313 

Cold-storage. 405,  438 

Cold,  what  is  injurious 329 

Coloring  baskets 416 

Commercial    fertilizers     on    hard 

lands 141 

Complete  fertilizers 216 

Connecticut  peach  orchards 272 

—  peach  trees  in 243 

—  temp,  in 80 

Constitutional  diseases 349 

Consumer,  reaching  the 461 

Cook,  A.  J.,  quoted 344 

Cook's  apple  picker 394 

Coote  on  pollination 340 

Copper  c  arbonate  formula 369 


506 


Index. 


PAGE 

Corn  for  cover 191,  202 

•  —  orchards  170 

-  marker 265 

Cornus,  growth  of 167 

Corylus 5 

Cosmopolitan  fruits 9,  19 

Cover  crops 164,  184 

Covering  plants 98 

Cow  peas,  analysis  of 202 

-  in  orchard 187,  192,  202 

Crab-apples,  species  of 2 

Craig,  John,  quoted 275 

Cranberries,  distance  for 241 

—  flooding 107 

—  keeping 444 

—  picking 400 

—  sorting   433 

Cranberry,  inventory  of 7 

Crataegus,  growth  of 167 

Crates 420 

—  for  picking 389 

Crimson  clover..  ..164,  190,  199,  202,  218 

analysis  of 202 

Cropping  the  orchard 170 

Cultivators 151 

Curculio  machine 395 

Currants,  age  for  setting 233 

—  distance  for 241 

—  mulching 93 

—  shaking  off .395 

—  species  of 6 

—  thinning 303 

Currents  of  air  vs.  frost 119 

Cyphomandra 7 

Cypress  for  wind-breaks 89 

Dakota,  frost 112 

Date 5 

Dates,  keeping 444 

Davies,  D.  O.,  quoted 120 

Deciduous  zone 8 

Delaware,  fruit  trees  in 243 

Determinate  growth 164 

Dewberries  and  rust 78 

—  species  of 0 

Dew-point,  determining 130,  131 


PAGE 

,    Dew-point,  raising 54 

j    Diospyros,  species  of 4 

j    Discovery 26 

;    Diseases 344 

Distance  for  planting 239,  273 

Distribution 461 

—  of  products 34 

Dolichos  sesquipedalis 194 

Double  planting 241 

Downing,  quoted 71 

—  storage  house 

Downing's  label 

Drags 

Drainage 

—  atmospheric 

Dried  fruits,  keeping 

Droughts 


Drupaceous  fruits 

Dry  freezing 

Du  Bellet,  on  preserving 

Duggar,  B.  M.,  on  storage 

Dutton,  A.  H.,  spraying  rig 

Dwarfs  vs.  standards 

Earle,  F.  S.,  on  shipping 

-Parker : 


Ebenaceous  fruits 

Egg-cases 

Elaeagnus 

Elevation  and  frost 41,  44 

Elms  for  wind-breaks 

Emulsion  formula 

Eriobotrya 

Eucalyptus  for  wind-breaks 

Eugenia,  species  of 

Euonymus,  growth  of 

Europe,  smudges  in 

Evans,  J.  C.,  mentioned 


445 

312 

..149,150 

154 

....48,51 

444 

142 

3 

10 

...458 
...445 
...357 
...233 
...467 
69,  270 
...  4 
...424 
...  6 
55,  58 
...  89 
...369 


Evaporated  fruits,  keeping 

—  goods  

Evaporation  in  winter 

Evolution  of  fruit-region  . . 
Excommunication  of  bugs. 
Exploration 


Exporting  apples  . . 
Exposure 


...89 
...  4 
...167 
...114 
.  ..27t> 
...444 
...32 
...lo 
...  26 
...  25 
...26 
...409 
59,60 


Index. 


507 


Pacing  barrels 407 

Fagus,  growth  of 167 

Fairchild,  quoted 229,  334 

Fall  planting 237 

-plowing 144,169 

Family  fruit  garden 276 

Fernald,  C.  H.,  quoted 23 

Ferrocyanide  tests 372 

Fertile  varieties 227,  229 

Fertility  and  productiveness 343 

Fertilizers 202 

Fertilizer  summary 219 

Fertilizing 175 

Ficus 3 

Fig 3 

-Indian 7 

—  zone 8 

Figs,  distance  for 240 

—  for  wind-breaks 89 

—  keeping 444 

—  laying  down 98 

Filbert 5 

Finkle,  quoted 110 

First-class  fruits 401 

—  tree 231 

Float 153 

Flooding  for  frost 106 

Florida  freeze 39 

-freezes 120 

—  zones 8 

-  wind-breaks  in 77,89 

Flowers,  injury  by  cold 322 

-sterile 227 

Fogs  and  frost Ill 

Forest  conditions 134 

Forests  and  fruit-growing 77 

Fragaria,  species  of 7 

France,  smudging  in 114 

Fraxinus,  growth  of 167 

Freezes 39 

Frost,  injurious  degree  of 329 

—  prediction  of 121 

—  protection  from 92 

Frosts  and  location 39 

Frozen  trees 314 


Fruit-buds,  winter-killing 316 

Fruit,  definition  of 1 

—  market,  illustration  of 473 

Fruit-pickers 392 

Fruit-rot 383 

Fruit  trees,  plant-food  in 204 

Fruit-zones 7,8 

Fuller,  quoted 74 

Fulton,  quoted 73 

Fungi  and  fruit-growing 21 

—  attacks  by 349 

Galloway,  quoted 106,112 

I    Galls  on  roots 351 

Garden  and  Forest,  quoted 179 

Garey,  quoted 77 

Genesee  Fruit  Company 444 

Geographical  adaptations 226 

Geography  of  fruit-growing 7 

Georgia,  frost 125 

-packing  in 431,432 

—  peach  orchards 272 

Germany,  fruits  in 411 

—  smudging  in 115 

Gift  package 416 

Ginkgo 5 

Gipsy-moth   24 

Girdled  trees 288 

Girdling 288 

Gleditschia,  growth  of 167 

Gluts 34 

Glycosmis 3 

Goodman,  L.  A.,  mentioned 270 

Gooseberries,  age  for  setting 233 

-shaking off  395 

—  species  of 6 


Gooseberry,  Barbadoes 7 

—  effect  of  mulching 93 

—  Otaheite 5 

Goumi 6 

Grading  fruit 401,403 

Grafting,  top 298 

—  young  stocks 235 

Grain  in  orchards 170 

Granadilla 6 

Grape  business,  status  of 32.  35 


508 


Index. 


Grape  fruit 3 

-  houses 425 

—  root,  broken 279 

—  trimming  young 252 

Grapes,  bagging 353 

—  distance  for 241 

—  how  to  pick 384 

—  injury  by  cold 327 

—  keeping 397,  443,  444 

—  mulching 93 

-  packing 406,  429 

—  preserving 459,  460 

—  rain  on  blossoms 336 

—  ringing 290 

—  species  of 5,  G 

—sterile  and  fertile 230 

Grazing 26 

Green,  quoted 75 

—  manures 184 

Ground  bone 218 

Growing  parts,  injury  to 322 

Growths,  records  of 165 

Guava,  species  of 4 

Gurney,  quoted 75 

Hail  injuries 352 

Hair,  Uriah,  mentioned 396 

Hale,  J.  H.,  mentioned 259,  271.  273 

—  orchards,  packing  in 432 

Halstead,  B.  D.,  quoted 303 

—  on  rain 338 

-  on  winter-killing 318 

Hammon,  W.  H.,  quoted].. 107,  112,  120, 

130,  329 

Hand-picking 401 

Hansen,  N.  E.,  quoted 51 

—  on  sun-scald 284 

Hardiness  and  moisture 11,  18 

Hard-pan 143,  155 

Harness,  Sherwood 159 

Harrowing 149,157 

Hartlib,  Samuel,  quoted 142 

Hawes,  B.  F.,  quoted 325 

Hay  in  orchards 170 

Hexagonal  plan 265 

Heading-in 169,  240,  293,  315,  341 


PAGE 

Heating  the  air 120 

Heguilus,  quoted 115 

Hemlock  for  wind-breaks 89 

Herb-like  fruits 7 

Hessian-fly 24 

Hexamer,  on  storing 442 


Hickories,  species  of 4 

Hicoria,  species  of 4 

Hide-bound  trees 286 

High  lands 59 

Hiles,  T.  L.,  Ice  book 443 

Hogs  in  orchards 173 

Holes  for  trees 244 

Home  plantation 275 

Horn-fly 25 

Hovenia... 


How  to  plant 244 

Humus 141,  179,  218,  221 

Hunting 26 

Husmann,  quoted 74 

lee  storage 435 

Illinois,  frost  in 332 

Illustration  of  a  market 473 

Impotent  varieties 227,  229 

Inarching 289 

Indeterminate  growth 165 

Indian  fig 17 

Insects  and  fruit-growing 20 

—  attacks  by 348 

Insurance,  spraying  is 354 

Irrigating  for  frost 106,  107 

Isophenal  lines 128 

Isoproetals 9 

Isotherms 9,  128 

Ithaca,  temperatures  at 56 

Jellies 32 

Jew  plum 4 

Juglans,  species  of 4 

Jujube 5 

Juneberries,  mulching 93 

Juneberry 6 

Kainit 215,217 

Kaki 4 

—  distance  for 240 

Kansas,  protecting  peaches  in 101 


Index. 


509 


PAGE 

Kedzie  on  frosts 108 

—  on  psychrometer 128 

Keeping  fruit 397,  435,  444 

Kenrick,  quoted 71 

Kerosene  emulsion,  formula 3C9 

Kerr,  J.  W.,  quoted 229 

Kieffer  pear,  region  for 226 

King,  quoted 48,146 

Kinney,  T.  L.,  storage  house 448 

Knisely,  A.  L.,  quoted 13 

Knots  on  roots 351 

Kiihne-Rixdorf,  B.  L.,  quoted 412 

Kumquat 3 

Labels 307 

Ladders 390 

Lagrolet  system 117 

Lakes  and  frosts 42,  60 

Larch  for  wind-breaks 89 

Latitude 9 

—  and  fruit  trees 243,  265 

Laws  for  pests.. 22 

Laying  down  plants 98,  99 

—  out  the  plantation 254 

Leguminous  fruits 4 

Lemon 3 

Lemons,  distance  for 241 

—  keeping 444 

Lestout,  on  frosts 116, 117 

Lichen,  office  of 176 

Lime 3,  218 

—  arsenit*  of 377 

-berry 3 

—  Spanish 5 

Line,  laying-out  by 259,  260 

Lining  packages 413 

Lippens,  on  frost 115 

Liquors 32 

Liriodendron,  growth  of 167 

Litchi 5 

Location  for  fruit-growing 37 

Locust  for  wind-breaks 89 

Lodeman,  on  nitrogen 214 

—  quoted 234 

Lodeman's  label 312 

London  purple,  formula 371 


PAGE 

Loomis,  quoted 80 

Loquat  2 

Lowlands 59 

Lucuma 4 

Lumbering 26 

MacGillivray,  A.  D.,  quoted. 121 

McCluer,  G.  W.,  quoted 332 

Maclura,  growth  of 167 

Macomber.  J.  T.,  quoted 100 

Magnolia,  growth  of 167 

Maine,  frost 125 

Mammea 5 

Mammee  apple 5 

Mango 4 

—  zone 8 

Manitoba,  frost 112 

—  wind-breaks 51 

Manufactured  goods 32 

Manure 211 

Mangifera 4 

Maples  for  wind-breaks 87,  89 

Maps  for  orchards 307 

Market,  illustration  of 473 

—  location 38 

Markets  and  picking 379,  385 

—  finding   461 

Marking  out  the  area 254 

Marmalade  tree 4 

Maryland  law 22 

Maturity  of  fruits 279 

Medlar 2 

Melicocea   5 

Mespilus 2 

Mice,  protecting  from 283,  294 

Michigan 20 

-  fruit  trees  in 243,265 

—  pea«hes  in 45 

—  planting  in 260 


temp.  in. 


81 

—  wind-break  in 88 

—  wind-breaks  in 66,  70 

Middleman 464 

Millet  for  cover 192,  202 

Mining 26 

Missouri,  fruit  trees  in 243 


510 


Index. 


PAGE 
..241 

..185 
..  0 
..281 
..10 


..145 
..152 
..160 

..     7 


Mixing  fruits 

Moisture  and  cover  crops 

—  determinant 

—  from  leaves ; 

—  loss  in  winter 

—  of  soil 142 

—  vs.  harrowing 149 

plowing 

rolling 

tillage 

Monstera 

Moore,  quoted 77 

Moraceous  fruits 3 

Morus,  species  of 3 

Mountain  ash  as  stock 19 

Mulberry,  species  of 3 

Mulching  for  frost 92 

Mulch  of  earth 145 

Mulching  trees 245 

Muriate  of  potash 215,  217,  218 

Musaceous  fruits 7 

Musa,  species  of 7 

Myrica 5 

Myrtaceous  fruits 4 


Nectarine,  kinds  of 3 

Nectarines,  distance  for 240 

Nectarine  tree,  exp.  with 96 

Neighborhood  storage 436 

Nematode 21 

Nematodes 351 

Nephelium 5 

Netting  about  trees 283,  295 

-  for  birds 296 

New  England,  trees  in 243 

—  Hampshire,  frost 125 

—  Jersey,  expts.  in 210 

-Mexico   9 

—  York,  frost 125 

frosts 43 

fruit  trees  in 265 

peaches  in 44 

temp,  in 81 

-  wind-breaks  in 64,  69 

Nitrate  of  soda 213,  217,  218 

Nitrogen,  amount  of 203 


PAGE 

Nitrogen  for  fruits 2*1 

North  Carolina,  planting  in 201 

Nozzles 358 

Nubbins  of  strawberries 323 

Nuciculture 4 

.178 
.231 
.315 
.170 
.  4 
.444 


Nursery  lands 

Nurseryman,  business  of 

Nursery  stock,  injury  by  cold.. 

in  orchards 

Nut-fruits,  kinds  of 

Nuts,  keeping 

Oats  for  cover 192,  202 

Oils ...  32 


Olden  plan 270,  272 

Old  orchards,  renovating 340 

Olea 5 

Olive....  ..     5 


Opuntia,  species  of 

Orange  groves,  wind-breaks  for  . . . 


Oranges,  distance  for 

—  keeping 

—  species  of 


Orchard  culture 

—  definition  of 

—  plans 

Orchards,  renovating 

Oregon 

Organization 

Osage  orange  for  wind-breaks 

Otaheite  gooseberry 

Outlook  for  fruit-growing 

Over-production 

Ozark  region 

Pacific  zones 

Packages 

—  small  and  large 

Packing  grapes 

—  houses 

—  how  to 

-of  fruit.... 


Paddock's  label 

Paint  for  wounds 287, 

Palmaceous  fruits 


Index. 


511 


PAGE 

Palmetto  for  wind-breaks 90 

±"apaw 4,  5 

.Paper  on  fruits 413 

—  tarred 295 

Parasite  determinant 21 

Parasites  and  productiveness 343 

Parentage  of  trees 234 

Paris  green,  formula 371 

tests  for 372,374 

Passiflora 6 

Passifloraceous  fruits  6 

Pasturing  orchards 172 

Peach  buds,  killed 319,  321 

—  culture,  status  of 138 

Peaches,  age  for  planting 233 

—  among  apples 241,  242 

-distance  for 240,273 

—  how  to  pick 384 

-keeping 297,444 

—  mulching 93 

—  packing 406 

—  thinning 300,  306 

Peach -growing  and  frost 125 

—  status  of 44 

Peach,  soils  for 19 

—  species  of 3 

—  trees,  and  latitude 243 

fertilizing 210 

nitrogen  on 212 

price  of 236 

protecting 100,  101 

trimming  young 247,  248,  253 

-  when  to  pick 382 

-yellows 22,47,350 

—  zone 8 

Pear,  Alligator 5 

Pear-blight 287,  350 

Pear  buds,  killing 321,  325 

—  on  mountain  ash 19 

—  prickly 7 

—  roots 161 

—  trees,  trimming  young 249 

Pears,  age  for  planting 233 

—  distance  for 240,  273 


PAGE 

Pears,  dwarf,  age  for  planting 233 

depthtoset 244 


good  stock 232 

picking 390 

status  of 137 

-  hand-picking 401 

-how  to  pick 385 

-  injured  by  cold 325 

-in  sod 172 

—  keeping 444 

—  packing 407 


—  preserving 459 

—  pruning  Kieffer 293 

—  rain  on  blossoms 334 


—  species  of 2 

—  sterile  and  fertile 229 

—  when  to 


pick. 


—  with  peaches 241 

—  wrapping 413 

Peas,  analysis  of 201 

—  in  orchards 187,  192,  202 

Pecan 4 

Pecans,  distance  for 240 

Peddlers 236 

Pegging  down  trees 98 

Penicillium  glaucum 460 

Pennsylvania,  frost 125 

—  fruit  trees  in 265 

Pepper  tree  for  wind-breaks 89 

Pereskia 7 


Pericarp 1 

Perkins,  C.  H.,  on  storage 436 


Persimmons,  species  of 4 

Peru,  smudging  in 116 

Pests  and  fruit-growing 20 

Petit,  A.,  preservative 458 

Petroleum  for  frosts 112 

Pettit,  W.  W.,  house  of 427,  430 

Phenology 127 

Philadelphus,  growth  of 167 

Phin,  quoted 74 

Phoenix 5 

Phosphoric  acid,  amount  of 204 

for  fruits 216 


512 


Index. 


Phyllanthns 5 

Phylloxera,  flooding  for 107 

Physiological  diseases 349 

Pickers,  keeping  records  with 398 

Picking,  how  to  do 384 

—  when  to  do 378 

Pineapple 7 

—  soils  for 19 

Pineapples,  covering 106 

Pines  for  wind-breaks 89,  91 

Pistacio 5 

Pistil,  killing  of 316 

Place  for  fruit-growing 37 

Plains  region 9 

Flanker 153 

Plans  for  orchards 265 

Plantain 7 

Plant,  how  to 244 

Planting 224 

Plants,  choosing 230 

Platanus,  growth  of 167 

Pliny,  on  frosts   114 

Plow,  handy 281 

Plowing  vs.  moisture 145 

Plow,  laying-out  by 256 

Plum  buds,  killing 321,  325 

—  culture,  status  of 137 

—  injured  by  hail 352 

-Jew 4 

—  knot 22 

—  on  peach 19 

Plums,  age  for  planting 233 

—  distance  for 240,  273 

—  hand-picking  401 

—  how  to  pick 384 

—  impotent 228,  229 

—  keeping.... 444 

—  species  of 3 

—  when  to  pick 382 

Plum  tree,  injured  by  cold 315 

—  trees,  price  of 236 

trimming  young 251 

Pollen  and  weather 227 

Pollination 227 

—  and  rain 333 


PAGE 

Pomaceous  fruits 2 

Pomegranate 5 

—  zone....  ..    8 


Pomelo 3 

Pomology,  definition  of 1 

Pond-apple 4 

Pools 472 

Poplars  for  wind-breaks 88,  89 

Populus,  growth  of 167,  168 

Potash,  amount  of 204 

—  for  fruits 214 

Potato  and  the  bug 347 

—  beetle 347,  369 

Potato-bug 25 

Powell,  G.  T.,  Quoted 409 

Prediction  of  frost 121 

Preserving  fruits 258 

Presses  for  barrels 433 

Price  of  stock 236 

Prickly  pear 7 

Productiveness  of  orchards 343 

Propagation  and  productiveness 343 

Prophylaxis  350 

Prune,  distance  for 273 

Prunes,  keeping 444 

Pruning  and  productiveness 343 

—  trees 292,300 

—  young  trees 246 

Prunus,  growth  of 168 

—  species  of 3,  5 

Psidium 4 

Psychrometer 128 

Puddling 246 

Pumps 358 


Puniea 5 

Pyrus,  growth  of 168 

—  species  of 2 

Quantities  of  seed  for  cover  crops..  .202 

Quercus,  growth  of 168 

Quince-culture,  status  of 137 

Quinces,  age  for  planting 233 

—  and  cedar-apples 78 

—  distance  for 240 

—  keeping 444 

—  low  lands  for ...  59 


Index. 


513 


Quinces,  mulching 93 

—  species  of 2 

Quiucunx  system 241,  265 

Quinn,  quoted 74 

Rabbits 283,  294 

Rain,  effect  upon  blossoms 233 

Raisins,  keeping 444 

Rape  for  cover 191 

Raspberries,  age  for  setting 233 

—  and  rust 78 

—  distance  for 241 

—  harvesting 395 

—  keeping 397 

—  laying  down 98 

—  mulching 93 

—  rain  on 339 

—  species  of 6 

—  thinning 305 

—  tilling 281 

Raspberry,  anthracnose 347 

—  galls  on 351 

Records  of  orchards 307 

Red-rust 78 

Refrigerator  ears 466 

Renovating  orchards 340 

Repacking 441 

Ribaceous  fruits 6 

Ribes,  growth  of 168 

—  species  of 6 

Rigs  for  spraying 356 

Ringing 290,291 

Ripeness 279 

Rivers  and  frosts 42,  60 

Roberts  on  fertilizing  orchards 203 

Rollers 152 

Root-gall 351 

Root -knot 21,  351 

Root-pruning 280 

Roots,  broken 279,  280 

—  extent  of 161 

—  trimming 246 

Rose-apple 4 

Rose-chafer 78 

Roses,  mulching 94 

Rosette 22 

1   H 


PAGE 

Rosin,  for  freezes 121 

Rotation 220 

—  and  pests 347 

Rows,  making  straight 254 

Rubaceous  fruits 6 

Rubus,  species  of  . .  % C 

Rudisill,  quoted 70 

Rural  Life,  quoted 51 

Russia,  laying  down  trees  in 98 

Rye 164,  190,  202 

St.  John's  Bread 4 

Salix,  growth  of 168 

San  Jose  scale 22 

Sapodilla 4 

Sapotaceous  fruits 4 

Sapota,  white 3 

Sauces ...  32 


Scab,  apple 347,354,369 

Scale,  San  Jose 22 

Sehinus  for  wind-breaks 89 

Scraping 286 

Screens  as  covers 106 

Sea-grape 5 

Seedlings,  value  as  stocks 235 

Selection,  influence  of 234 

Self-sterile  fruits 229 

Semi-tropical  zone 8 

Serres,  on  frosts 114 

Setting  the  plants 224 

Shaddock 3 

Shaking  off  fruits 395,  401 

Sheds,  for  packing 432 

Sheep,  in  orchards 173 

Sheldon,  S.  L.,  quoted 56 

Shelter  belts 87 

Shepherdia 6 

Shipping 461 

—  associations 471 


Site 

Slitting  the  bark 

Slopes 

Small-fruit  culture,  inyentory  of  . . 
—  defined  .., 


Small-fruits  in  orchards 243 

Smith,  E.  F.,  on  nitrogen 212 


514 


Index. 


PAGE 

Smoking  for  frost  ..................  Ill 

Smudging  for  frost  .................  Ill 

Snow,  G.  C.,  grapes  ............  432,  443 

Snows,  utilizing  ....................  149 

Soap  for  trees  ......................  285 

Soda,  arsenite  of  .  .f  .................  377 

—  nitrate  of  .......  *  ........  213,  217,  218 

Sod  in  orchards  .....................  172 

Soil  determinant  ....................  18 

—  mulch  ............................  145* 

Sonoran  zone  .......................     9 

Sorting-tables  ......................  433 

Sour-sop  ............................     4 

South  Carolina  rock  ............  21&-218 

Spalding,  quoted  ....................  77 

Speculation  .........................  26 

Spondias  ............................     4 

Sprayed  fruit  .......................  415 

Spraying  ............................  344 

—  for  frost  ..........................  106 

—  on  flowers  ........................  333 

Spring  planting  .....................  238 

Sprinkling  for  frost  .................  106 

Spruces  for  wind-breaks  ..........  87,  91 

Stable  manure 

Staking  out  orchards 

—  trees 

Standards  vs.  dwarfs 
Stands  for  picking 

Star-apple  ..........................    4 

Sterile  varieties  ................  227,  229 

Stevens,  H.  R.,  quoted  ..............  120 

Stock,  first-class  ....................  231 

—  protecting  from  ..................  296 

Stock-raising  .......................  26 

Stocks  vs.  soils  .....................  19 

Stone  fruits  .........................     3 

Storage  houses  .............  426,  436,  444 

Storing  fruits  ...................  435,  438 

Strawberries,  age  for  setting  .......  233 

—  covering  ......................  98,  106 

—  distance  for  ......................  241 

—  how  to  pick  ......................  385 

—  in  orchards  ......................  243 

—  keeping  ..........................  397 


PAGE 
Strawberries,  mulching 95 

—  on  low  lands 5!) 

—  species  of 7 

—  sterile  and  fertile  ...  .      230 


—  when  to  pick 279 

Strawberry  diseases 78 

—  field  and  frost 53 

—  flowers  and  weather 227 

—  is  cosmopolitan 9 

—  nubbins 323 

it    .. 


[   —rust 


.347 


!    —  tree 

Stringf ellow  system 246 

Stripping  trees 238 

Strong,  quoted 74 

Subsoiling 155 

Substitution 237 

Sugar-apple 4 

Sulfate  of  potash 215,  217 

Sulfur  for  bleaching 417 

—  test  for  Paris  green 372 

Summer-fallowing  orchards 173 


211 
2G1 

282 
233 
386 


Sun-scald   

Superphosphate 

Surinam  cherry 

Surveying  plantations 

Sylvinit 

Syringa,  growth  of. . . 

Tags  for  pickers 

Tallies.... 


...216,: 


Tamarind 

Tamarindus 

Tangierine 

Tare  for  cover 

Tarred  paper 

Tarr,  R.  S.,  quoted 

Teller,  analysis  by 

Temperate  zone 

Temperature  determinant 

Temperatures  for  fruits 

Tennessee  frost 

Tent-caterpillar 

Tent-caterpillars 

Terminalia 

Texas,  fruit  trees  in 


4 

254 

217 

168 

398 

307 

4 

4 

3 

195 
295 
,  52 
.201 


Index. 


515 


PAGE 

140      Varieties  running  out  .... 

PAGE 

.  .   .225 

Thermometer,  wet-  and  dry-br 
Thinning  fruit     
Thomas,  quoted   
Thorn  trees  and  cedar-apples. 
Tickets  for  pickers  
Tilia,  growth  of  
Tillage  .             
—  and  productiveness   .... 
—  philosophy  of  
—  value  of  
Tilling  for  frost   
•—suggestions  for  
Time  to  plant  
Top-grafting  
Trade-mark  
Transpiration  from  leaves  .   . 

lib    .  128      Vegetables,  keeping  
.  .  299       Vermin,  protecting  from.  .  . 

.   .   .444 
283,294 
...  125 

•   •   •  446 

...  398      —  wind-breaks  in  
.    .     168       Vetch,  analysis  of  
133  277           in  orchard                          187 

...    73 

.   .   .201 
,  195,  202 
.      197 
192 

...  243       Vicia  sativa  

.    .    .     5 

...  109       Vineyard  label  
...  154      Vineyards,  status  of  
...  237       Virginia,  frost  
.   .   .  298       —  fruit  trees  in  
.  .     414      —  storage  house  
...  281       Viticulture,  inventory  of  ... 

.    .    .  312 
...  137 
.   .   .12C 
.   .   .243 
.    .   .452 
.   .   .     5 
168 

facilities 

.   .   .  5,  6 
,  210,  217 
.   .    .389 
°28  ?29 

...  386      Voorhees  E  B    quoted  .  .  207 

—  keeping  fruit  on  

.   .  .  441       Wagons  for  picking  
.   .  .  231       Waite  M  B    quoted 

Tree-fruit  culture  

.   .   .    89 

4 

202  '    Warder     uoted 

.    .   .    71 
...    24 

Trimming  trees  

285 

Triphrasia  
Troop,  James,  quoted  
Tropical  zone  
Turner,  E.  T.,  quoted   .... 
Turnips  for  cover  
Twigs,  moisture  in  
Tying  trees  
Umbrellas  as  fruit-pickers  .   . 
Unions  
United  States,  fruit  in  .... 

-   .  -      3      Water  and  frosts  

.     42,60 
...  106 
.   .      444 
.    .   .446 
...    73 
.    .   .    28 
.    .   .227 
,  177,  278 
.  259,  268 
...  125 
.   .   .128 
.   .  .285 
...  206 

•  ••     8      Watermelons,  keeping      .   .   . 
...    40.      Waugh,  on  storing  apples.  .   . 
.191,202       —quoted..  .                  
...    10   !   Wealth  of  farmer  
...  282  j   Weather  vs.  pollen-bearing  .  . 
...  395       Weeds  136 
.  .     472       Wellhouse  orchards  

Uu  ventilated  crates  

...  397  ;   Wet-  and  dry-bulb  

Van  Deman  plan  
quoted     242 
Vapor,  alcoholic,  as  preservati 
—  and  frost  
Varieties  and  productiveness. 
—  choosing  

.   .  .265      Wheat,  constituents  of  

,  256,  265  |    —  fields,  frost  in  
ve  .  .  .458      —  for  cover  
106  '    Whitten,  quoted  .... 

.   .   .  112 
.  192,  202 

.      243       Wickson,  quoted  
.   .     225  :   Willows  for  wind-breaks..  .   . 

...    76 
.   .   .    89 

516 


Index. 


PAGE 

302 

PAGE 

Wind-breaks  

.   .  48  51 

405 

62 

Winds  and  fruit-growing.  ..  . 
Wine,  keeping  
Wine-making  
Winter-killing  of  frnit-buds.  . 

...    47 
.    .      444 
...    32 
.    .      316 

Yard  manure  
Yellows  of  peach   22, 
Yeomans,  spraying  rig  
—  T.  G.,  quoted  

.   .  211 
47,350 
.      356 
.      261 

—  of  wood  .  . 

313 

84  86 

Winter  preparations  

...  294 

Zinc  labels  

.   .  308 

—  trimming  
Wire,  laying-out  by  
—  screen  .  . 

...  254 
.    .    .260 
.283.295 

Zizyphus  
Zones,  of  fruit  

.   .     5 

.   .  7.8 

The  Best  and  Newest 
Rural  Books 


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THE   SPRAYING  OF   PLANTS.    By  E.  G.  LODEMAN,  late  of  Cornell  Uni- 
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WORKS    BY  PROFESSOR    BAILEY 

THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  UNLIKE: 
A  Collection  of  Evolution  Essays  Suggested 
by  the  Study  of  Domestic  Plants.  By  L.  H. 

BAILEY,    Professor  of    Horticulture    in   the  Cornell 
University. 

FOURTH  EDITION- BIB    PACES  —  22    ILLUSTRATIONS       3 2. CO 

To  those  interested  in  the  underlying  philosophy 
of  plant  life,  this  volume,  written  in  a  most  enter- 
taining style,  and  fully  illustrated,  will  prove  wel- 
come. It  treats  of  the  modification  of  plants  under 
cultivation  upon  the  evolution  theory,  and  its  atti- 
tude on  this  interesting  subject  is  characterized 
by  the  author's  well-known  originality  and  inde- 
pendence of  thought.  Incidentally,  there  is  stated 
much  that  will  be  valuable  and  suggestive  to  the 
working  horticulturist,  as  well  as  to  the  man  or 
woman  impelled  by  a  love  of  nature  to  horticul- 
tural pursuits.  It  may  well  be  called,  indeed,  a 
philosophy  of  horticulture,  in  which  all  interested 
may  find  inspiration  and  instruction. 

THE  SURVIVAL  OP  THE  UNLIKE  comprises  thirty  essays  touching 
upon  The  General  Fact  and  Philosophy  of  Evolution  (The  Plant 
Individual,  Experimental  Evolution,  Coxey's  Army  and  the  Russian 
Thistle,  Recent  Progress,  etc.);  Expounding  the  Fact  and  Causes  of 
Variation  (The  Supposed  Correlations  of  Quality  in  Fruits,  Natural 
His;tory  of  Synonyms,  Reflective  Impressions,  Relation  of  Seed- 
bearing  to  Cultivation,  Variation  after  Birth,  Relation  between 
American  and  Eastern  Asian  Fruits,  Horticultural  Geography,  Prob- 
lems of  Climate  and  Plants,  American  Fruits,  Acclimatization,  Sex 
in  Fruits,  Novelties,  Promising  Varieties,  etc.);  and  Tracing  the 
Evolution  of  Particular  Types  of  Plants  (the  Cultivated  Strawberry, 
Battle  of  the  Plums,  Grapes,  Progress  of  the  Carnation.  Petunia. 
The  Garden  Tomato,  etc.). 


WORKS    BY    PROFESSOR     BAILEY 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  OUR  NA- 
TIVE FRUITS.  By  L.  H.  BAILEY,  Pro- 
fessor  of  Horticulture  in  the  Cornell  University. 

47*    PACES        126    ILLUSTRATIONS  — 92.00 

In  this  entertaining  volume,  the  origin  and  de- 
velopment of  the  fruits  peculiar  to  North  America 
are  inquired  into,  and  the  personality  of  those  horti- 
cultural pioneers  whose  almost  forgotten  labors 
have  given  us  our  most  valuable  fruits  is  touched 
upon.  There  has  been  careful  research  into  the 
history  of  the  various  fruits,  including  inspection 
of  the  records  of  the  great  European  botanists  who 
have  given  attention  to  American  economic  botany. 
The  conclusions  reached,  the  information  presented, 
and  the  suggestions  as  to  future  developments,  can- 
not but  be  valuable  to  any  thoughtful  fruit-grower, 
while  the  terse  style  of  the  author  is  at  its  best  in 
his  treatment  of  the  subject. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  OUR  NATIVE  FRUITS  discusses  The  Rise  of 
the  American  Grape  (North  America  a  Natural  Vineland,  Attempts 
to  Cultivate  the  European  Grape,  The  Experiments  of  the  Dufours, 
The  Branch  of  Promise,  John  Adlum  and  the  Catawba,  Rise  of 
Commercial  Viticulture,  Why  Did  the  Early  Vine  Experiments  Fail  ? 
Synopsis  of  the  American  Grapes) ;  The  Strange  History  of  the  Mul- 
berries (The  Early  Silk  Industry,  The  "Multicaulis  Craze,");  Evolu- 
tion of  American  Plums  and  Cherries  (Native  Plums  in  General, 
The  Chickasaw,  Hortulana,  Marianna  and  Beach  Plum  Groups, 
Pacific  Coast  Plum,  Various  Other  Types  of  Plums,  Native  Cherries, 
Dwarf  Cherry  Group);  Native  Apples  (Indigenous  Species,  Amelio- 


Its  Kin,  The  Dewberries,  Botanical  Names);  Various  Types  of 
Berry-like  Fruits  (The  Gooseberry,  Native  Currants,  Juneberry, 
Buffalo  Berry,  Elderberry,  High-bush  Cranberry,  Cranberry,  Straw- 
berry); Various  Types  of  Tree  Fruits  (Persimmon,  Custard -Apple 
Tribe,  Thorn-Apples,  Nut-Fruits) ;  General  Remarks  on  the  Improve- 
ment of  our  Native  Fruits  (What  Has  Been  Done,  What  Probably 
Should  Be  Done). 


WORKS    BY    PROFESSOR    BAILEY 

LESSONS  WITH  PLANTS:  Sugges- 
tions for  Seeing  and  Interpreting  Some  of 
the  Common  Forms  of  Vegetation.  By  L. 
H.  BAILEY,  Professor  of  Horticulture  in  the  Cornell 
University,  with  delineations  from  nature  by  W.  S. 
HOLDSWORTH,  of  the  Agricultural  College  of 
Michigan. 

SECOND  EDITION— 491  PACES— 446  ILLUSTRATION*— 1  2  MO- 
CLOTH-*  1. 10  NET 

There  are  two  ways  of  looking  at  nature.  The 
old  way,  which  you  have  found  so  unsatisfactory, 
was  to  classify  everything — to  consider  leaves,  roots, 
and  whole  plants  as  formal  herbarium  specimens, 
forgetting  that  each  had  its  own  story  of  growth 
and  development,  struggle  and  success,  to  tell. 
Nothing  stifles  a  natural  love  for  plants  more  effect- 
ually than  that  old  way. 

The  new  way  is  to  watch  the  life  of  every  grow- 
ing thing,  to  look  upon  each  plant  as  a  living 
ereatu-re,  whose  life  is  a  story  as  fascinating  as  the 
story  of  any  favorite  hero.  "Lessons  with  Plants" 
is  a  book  of  stories,  or  rather,  a  book  of  plays,  for 
we  can  see  each  chapter  acted  out  if  we  take  the 
trouble  to  look  at  the  actors. 

« I  have  spent  some  time  in  most  delightful  examination  of  it,  and  the 
longer  I  look,  the  better  I  like  it.  I  find  it  not  only  full  of  interest,  but 
eminently  suggestive.  I  know  of  no  book  which  begins  to  do  so  much  to 
open  the  eyes  of  the  student —whether  pupil  or  teacher  — to  the  wealth  of 
meaning  contained  in  simple  plant  forms.  Above  all  else,  it  seems  to  be 
full  of  suggestions  that  help  one  to  learn  the  language  of  plants,  so  they 
may  talk  to  him."—  DARWIN  L.  BARDWELL,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  liing* 
hamton. 

"It  is  an  admirable  book,  and  cannot  fail  both  to  awaken  interest  in 
the  subject,  and  to  serve  as  a  helpful  and  reliable  guide  to  young  students 
of  plant  life.  It  will,  I  think,  fill  an  important  place  in  secondary  schools, 
and  comes  at  an  opportune  time,  when  helps  of  this  kind  are  needed  and 
eagerly  sought."— Professor  V.  M.  SPALDING,  University  of  Michigan. 

FIRST    LESSONS    WITH    PLANTS 

An  Abridgement  of  the  above.  117  pages — 116  illustra- 
tions— 40  cents  net. 


B 


WORKS   BY   PROFESSOR    BAILEY 

OTANY :  An  Elementary  Text  for  Schools. 

By  L.  H.  BAILEY. 

356    PACES— 500    ILLUSTRATIONS-SI .  IO    NET 


"  This  book  is  made  for  the  pupil :  '  Lessons  With  Plants ' 
was  made  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  teacher."  This  is  the 
opening  sentence  of  the  preface,  showing  that  the  book  is  a 
companion  to  "Lessons  With  Plants,"  which  has  now  become  a 
standard  teacher's  book.  The  present  book  is  the  handsomest 
elementary  botanical  text-book  yet  made.  The  illustrations 
illustrate.  They  are  artistic.  The  old  formal  and  unnatural 
Botany  is  being  rapidly  outgrown.  The  book  disparages  mere 
laboratory  work  of  the  old  kind:  the  pupil  is  taught  to  see  things 
as  they  grow  and  behave.  The  pupil  who  goes  through  this  book 
will  understand  the  meaning  of  the  plants  which  he  sees  day 
by  day.  It  is  a  revolt  from  the  dry-as-dust  teaching  of  botany. 
It  cares  little  for  science  for  science'  sake,  but  its  point  of  view 
is  nature -study  in  its  best  sense.  The  book  is  divided  into  four 
parts,  any  or  all  of  which  may  be  used  in  the  school:  the  plant 
itself;  the  plant  in  its  environment;  histology,  or  the  minute 
structure  of  plants;  the  kinds  of  plants  (with  a  key,  and  de- 
scriptions of  300  common  species).  The  introduction  contains 
advice  to  teachers.  The  book  is  brand  new  from  start  to 
finish. 

"An  exceedingly  attractive  text-book."— Educational  Review. 
"•  It  is  a  school  book  of  the  modern  methods."— The  Dial. 

"It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better  manual  for  schools  or  for  indi- 
vidual use."—  The  Outlook. 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

No.  66  Fifth  Avenue  NEW  YORK 


WORKS     BY     PROFESSOR     BAILEY 


THE  CYCLOPEDIA  OF  AMERICAN 
HORTICULTURE  :   By  L.  H.  BAILEY,  of 

Cornell  University,  assisted  by  WILHELM  MILLER, 
and  many  expert  cultivators  and  botanists. 

4  VOLS.   OVSR  ZBOO  ORIGINAL  ENGRAVINGS  — CLOTH  — OCTAVO 
S20.00  NET  PER  SET 

This  great  work  comprises  directions  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  horticultural  crops  and  original  descrip- 
tions of  all  the  species  of  fruits,  vegetables,  flowers 
and  ornamental  plants  known  to  be  in  the  market  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada.  "It  has  the  unique 
distinction  of  presenting  for  the  first  time,  in  a  care- 
fully arranged  and  perfectly  accessible  form,  the  best 
knowledge  of  the  best  specialists  in  America  upon 
gardening,  fruit-growing,  vegetable  culture,  forestry, 
and  the  like,  as  well  as  exact  botanical  information. 
.  .  .  The  contributors  are  eminent  cultivators  or 
specialists,  and  the  arrangement  is  very  systematic, 
clear  and  convenient  for  ready  reference." 

"We  have  here  a  work  which  every  ambitious  gardener  will  wish  to  place 
on  his  shelf  beside  his  Nicholson  and  his  London,  and  for  such  users  of  it  a 
too  advanced  nomenclature  would  have  been  confusing  to  the  last  degree. 
With  the  safe  names  here  given,  there  is  little  liability  to  serious  perplexity. 
There  is  a  growing  impatience  with  much  of  the  controversy  concerning 
revision  of  names  of  organisms,  whether  of  plants  or  animals.  Those  in- 
vestigators who  are  busied  with  the  ecological  aspects  of  organisms,  and 
also  those  who  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  application  of  plants  to  the 
arts  of  agriculture,  horticulture,  and  so  on,  care  for  the  names  of  organisms 
under  examination  only  so  far  as  these  aid  in  recognition  and  identification. 
To  introduce  unnecessary  confusion  is  a  serious  blunder.  Professor  Bailey 
has  avoided  the  risk  of  confusion.  In  short,  in  range,  treatment  and  edit- 
ing, the  Cyclopedia  appears  to  be  emphatically  useful ;  .  .  .  a  work  worthy 
of  ranking  by  the  side  of  the  Century  Dictionary." — The  Nation. 

This  work  is  sold  only  by  subscription,  and  terms  and 
further  information  may  be  had  of  the  publishers. 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

No.  66   Fifth  Avenue  NEW    YORK 


UCSB   MRRARY 


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SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

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